Now that the honeymoon is over, the serious
business of accountability has begun in the
Middle East broadcast industry. The recession
taught companies that it was time to put
their houses in order and separate the wheat
from the chaff, and I’m not just talking private
entities here.
Government-backed broadcasters who have
been quite generous with their staff and hired
more than they needed perhaps felt the heat as
the coffers were threatening to run dry. We are
still feeling the pain of that lesson as government
bodies continue to trim their staff and make their
operations more efficient. Over a period of time,
we have seen it go from a freeze in hiring to making
several skilled staff redundant. While I would not
go so far as to say that we have a surplus of skills in
this market, there are people looking for the right
opportunity. Perhaps the launch of Bahrain’s Alarab
news channel comes at the right time.

For professionals who’re willing to leave
behind the comforts of the GCC to explore new
challenges, our Cover Story this month showcases
the opportunities in Libya for the bold and the
enterprising who are willing to get their hands dirty.
In the meantime, with new lessons learnt,
end users in the GCC are more careful to ensure
that they get their money’s worth from systems
integrators. It is into this wiser and better
informed market that several international
systems integrators and manufacturers are
making their entrée.
There are companies, however, who have
endured the good and the bad times, and think
it’s time to celebrate their success. Saudi-based
systems integrator First Gulf Company (FGC)
is one of them. On the first evening of CABSAT,
FGC will host an exclusive, invitation-only party
titled Together along with its business partners for
broadcasters. We will be there!

*ALARAB NEWS CHANNEL
HAS STARTED HIRING
*CHRIS ANNING AND MARK
BAYLEY MOVE TO AL JAZEERA
*IRAN TO MAKE ITS OWN FILM
TO COUNTER ARGO
Eleuterio Fernandes,
Exterity Middle East.

EXTERITY PROVIDES LIVE IPTV FEED
FOR ABU DHABI GOLF EVENT
IPTV solutions provider Exterity supported the
annual international Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf
Championship by providing an e3555 Encoder
installed in an Exterity c1101 chassis enabling the
host venue — The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort
& Spa — to stream the event live. Footage from
the event was streamed live via an IPTV system
right across the hotel. The solution was installed
by UAE-based systems integrator and Exterity
StreamForce’s channel partner RPS Technologies.
This is the first time that a live golf event has
been streamed over a hotel’s IPTV system in full
1080p HD in the region. The encoder was installed
for the entire duration of the tournament and
offered the hotel the option to stream live or prerecorded action. RPS Technologies also provided
support services for the solution to the property.
“The opportunity to work together on this
solution with The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort
& Spa and Exterity allows us to build upon our
already strong relationship with two of the leading
hospitality and technology providers in the
market,” commented Peter Donnelly, Director of
Projects & Integration at RPS Technologies.
The e3555 encoder enabled the hotel to scale
video content to a variety of resolutions up to full
1080p HD.
“Exterity has been able to meet The Westin Abu
Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa’s demand to make the
most of its existing IPTV network and provide the
ability to stream quality video source to a variety
of different devices throughout the resort,” added
Eleuterio Fernandes, Regional Channel Sales
Manager, Exterity Middle East.

FGC AND PARTNERS
PLAN EXCLUSIVE EVENT
AT CABSAT2013
First Gulf Company (FGC) will host an
exclusive party on March 12, the first
evening of CABSAT, along with its partners,
Harris, Fujinon, Hitachi, EMC, Studer and
MT2 at Meydan Beach Club, Dubai Marina.
The exclusive invitation-only event is aimed
at bringing broadcast players from across
the Middle East and North Africa for an
evening of networking and will see several
high-profile broadcasters including senior
government dignitaries attend.
“We have themed the party Together
as we aim to work in conjunction with
partners and get to know each other in the
industry better. After a long day at CABSAT,
networking would be ideal in a relaxing
environment,” commented Walid AlBakoush,
GM of FGC.
FGC is well known in the region for having
secured more than 90% of the broadcast
systems integration business in Saudi
Arabia, especially those associated with
the Ministry of Culture and Information,
which is now known as Saudi Broadcasting
Corporation (SBC). It has also secured

Walid AlBakoush (l) and Naim Saidi (r),
managing partners at FGC.

various projects across the Middle East
including some in Qatar and Egypt. FGC
undertakes turnkey broadcast projects.
“We secured the contracts to migrate
most of Saudi MOCI’s existing Standard
Definition facilities to High Definition in
addition to building new ones,” added Naim
Saidi, CEO of FGC.
“It’s now time to celebrate our success and
reinforce our business partnerships in other
parts of the region as well.”
Several dignitaries from Saudi MOCI will
also attend the event.
Together is being organised by
BroadcastPro ME.

LIGHT HOUSE LAUNCHES NEW STUDIO WITH
PHILIP BLOOM WORKSHOP
Dubai-based rental house Light House Studio officially opened the
doors to its brand new film studio with two workshops on videography
conducted by renowned UK-based DoP Philip Bloom. Although most of
the attending DoPs or cameramen had their own cameras, the studio
was fully kitted out with various kinds of equipment. We also caught a
glimpse of the brand new Sony F5 camera, which will make its official
debut at CABSAT along with the F55, and a Blackmagic Design camera.
“We brought Philip Bloom so we could get people to come in here
for the workshop and also experience what it’s like to work in this
studio,” explained Mohamed Kashif Joosub, Managing Director of
Light House Studio.
“Previously, we only had a studio for photography but this is a new
3000 sq ft studio with a 10x10m shooting area. It took four months
to build and we had a soft launch, during which we asked people
for their feedback and this is based on that. As we are also a rental
house, we have all of the lighting, cameras, lenses, grips and kit
required for a shoot. This studio is fully equipped and has a chroma
screen as well.”
Bloom conducted two workshops at the studio.
“We had an intense workshop on the first day and a two-day
workshop after that,” explained Bloom.
“We had a mixed audience. They were not just DoPs or
cameramen but creative directors and people with cameras who
wanted to learn how to use them better.”

PRONEWS
AL JAZEERA AMERICA
PART OF MORE LAUNCHES
Last month, Al Jazeera bought US cable
channel Current TV for an estimated USD 500
million to expand into America. BroadcastPro
ME, however, has learnt that the Qatarbased network has plans to expand further
in the global market. Tenders were released
to build facilities for the network in Kabul
and Sarajevo. With Al Jazeera America, Al
Jazeera has plans to open additional bureaus
in key locations across the United States
besides its existing news bureaus in New
York, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Miami and
Chicago. It will also double its US-based staff
to more than 300 employees.
“By acquiring Current TV, Al Jazeera will
significantly expand our existing distribution
footprint in the US, as well as increase
our newsgathering and reporting efforts in
America,” commented Ahmed bin Jassim Al
Thani, Director General of Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera said its new US-based news
channel would be separate from Al Jazeera
English, and would provide both domestic
and international news for American
audiences. The new channel is scheduled to
begin broadcasting in 2013.

MIRANDA TECHNOLOGIES
ACQUIRES SOFTEL
Miranda Technologies has acquired UK-based
subtitling and captioning expert Softel.
Integration planning will be led by a team of
Miranda and Softel executives, but there will
be no business disruption for either of the
companies during the transition. The integration
is expected to be completed by this summer.
“Captioning is a critical component of the
playout chain, and one that is often difficult to
manage,” commented Marco Lopez, President
of Miranda.
“By introducing Softel’s technology into the
Miranda portfolio and directly integrating it into
our iTX solution, we’ll present broadcasters with
further efficiencies, not only in the purchase
process, but also during deployment and in
post-sale support as well. Miranda will continue
to support the full Softel solutions suite and
honor all Softel partner agreements.”
In addition to its Swift line of subtitling
and captioning products, Softel offers a host
of advanced television systems that improve
efficiency and enable new revenue streams.
Sam Pemberton, Softel’s CEO added: “Our
customers will benefit from the synergies this
acquisition creates. Being aligned with Miranda
in the Belden family extends our reach into
potential new markets and being part of this
team allows us to focus on innovation.”

Ghassan Alasad (in red) with his team on the
left and inspecting the new studio.

CMS EXPANDS WITH NEW OFFICE
Creative Media Solutions (CMS),
which specialises in film and TV
solutions and systems integration,
has shifted to a new office within
Dubai Media City to accommodate
its expanding business operations.
“We required more office space,
and a dedicated studio with a
control room and an area for post
production,” stated Ghassan Alasad,

Managing Partner of CMS GULF.
The company has worked on
several integration projects across
the region, including Al Rayyan TV
and Libya TV in Doha, which are
the most recent.
“CMS managed the technical
and engineering operations,
system development and creative
services for Al Rayyan TV. We

built a five-camera HD studio for
them with full lighting system,
acoustics and floor leveling. We also
undertook a virtual studio project
for them,” added Alasad.
CMS has also been responsible
for managing the technical and
engineering operation, system
development and creative services
for Libya Al Ahrar in Qatar.

MEDIACAST TO DISTRIBUTE SSL AND MILLER
PRODUCTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Dubai-based distributor MediaCast has signed two new
agreements with Miller and SSL that will enable it to
distribute their respective products in the Middle East.
Paul Maroni, Group Sales and Marketing Manager
of Miller stated that the company’s presence in the
Middle East “will be greatly enhanced with this new
business relationship”.
Likewise, Damien Egan, EMEA Distribution Manager
for SSL stated that the manufacturer was “delighted to
appoint MediaCast as its WPP distributor for the Middle
East region”.
“MediaCast has a successful track record and a
great team whose knowledge of product, training and
marketing is highly respected by their customers,”
Egan stated.
Peyman Dadpanah, Business Director of
MediaCast, added that the brands are an “excellent
addition to our portfolio”.
“Miller often features in the list of quite a few
ingenious artists and we will be pleased to increase that
in the Middle East. With its wide portfolio of products
with zero compromise on quality suiting different types
of cameras and price-bands, we are looking forward to

6 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

Peyman Dadpanah,
MediaCast.

a promising time ahead with Miller,” he stated.
“Likewise, we are delighted about our new
association with Solid State Logic. There are more than
3000 SSL systems in service around the world, and
we are certainly looking forward to adding more to that
from our region.”

NOW WITH
AND

Introducing HyperDeck Studio, the
broadcast deck that uses solid state disks!
Now you can get the incredible quality broadcast deck that records and
plays using low costs solid state disks. HyperDeck Studio works like a regular
broadcast deck, and supports dual disk slots so the moment one disk
is full, recording can continue to the next disk! That’s unlimited recording!
HyperDeck Studio supports uncompressed and compressed DNxHD recording
into QuickTime™ and MXF files so you can simply mount the disks and edit
media directly without any file copying! HyperDeck Studio is perfect for live
production, instant replays and disk server use!
Absolute Perfect Quality

Solid State Disk (SSD) Recording
Simply plug in a fast 2.5” solid state disk into
HyperDeck Studio and start recording! SSD’s are
used in desktop and laptop computers so prices
are constantly falling while sizes are getting bigger!
Plug the SSD into your computer and the disk will mount right on your
computer’s desktop! Files are stored in standard QuickTime™ or MXF 10 bit
format so you can use the media in Mac™ and Windows™ software!
Use Cameras, Switchers and Monitors

HyperDeck Studio works with both compressed and
perfect quality uncompressed video. You can select
between 10 bit DNxHD MXF or uncompressed 10 bit
QuickTime recording and playback. Only uncompressed
gives you a mathematically perfect “clone” recording between capture and
playback. Only uncompressed lets you trust your recording and there is
absolutely no higher quality possible!

With SDI and HDMI inputs and outputs, HyperDeck
Studio works with virtually every camera, switcher or
monitor! Plug into televisions or video projectors
for instant on set preview or get exciting live action
replay with ATEM production switchers. Even use it for digital signage.
Just press play twice for loop playback! Imagine using pristine broadcast
quality 10 bit recording on your next live event!

HyperDeck Studio

Familiar Broadcast Deck Design!
HyperDeck Studio has a familiar broadcast deck style
design with transport buttons, jog/shuttle knob, deck
control port and build in LCD! You get unlimited
duration recordings because HyperDeck Studio includes dual SSD slots, so
when recording, if your disk fills, it will automatically continue recording to
the other disk.

995*

US$

Learn more today at www.blackmagicdesign.com/hyperdeckstudio

Broadcast Solutions for your success
- a decade of innovation and trust

TWOFOUR54 INTAJ AND BSG
COVER GULF CUP IN BAHRAIN
More than 80 crew including producers,
directors, engineers, and cameramen from
twofour54 intaj and Broadcast Solutions Group
(BSG) were in Bahrain last month to manage
the production and broadcast of the 21st Arabian
Gulf Cup Tournament, the region’s biennial football
tournament. The event was hosted in Bahrain
from January 5 to 18. Event managers World
Sport Group and the Bahrain Local Organising
Committee contracted the two entities to
undertake the production owing to their successful
management of the previous Arabian Gulf Cup,
which was hosted by Yemen in 2010.
The Gulf Cup is the region’s premier football
tournament and in 2013, fixtures took place at two
places, namely Bahrain’s National Stadium and
Khalifa Sports City Stadium.
20 tonnes of equipment were shipped
to Bahrain for the event. 37 HD cameras
including a spider cam and ultra-motion camera
were installed at both locations to ensure
comprehensive coverage.
While Intaj was responsible for the management

of the production and broadcast of the event, BSG
provided the production equipment and crew.
The team was tasked with providing footage to
all of the regional sports broadcasters adding to
the complexity of production requirements and
timings. TV channels broadcasting the competition
included Abu Dhabi Sports Channel, Dubai Sports
Channel, Al Kass TV, Line Sport, Sharjah TV, Kuwait
TV, Saudi Sports Channel, Bahrain TV, Oman Sports
Channel, Iraqiya TV and MBC.
Noura Al Kaabi, CEO of twofour54, called this
“intaj’s biggest production management project
outside the UAE to date”.
“We are proud to be assigned for our production
expertise on such a large-scale project,” she said.
Saeed Izadi, CEO of Broadcast Solutions Group,
added: “This is a great opportunity for Broadcast
Solutions Group to showcase its capabilities and
leverage its technical expertise. By providing intaj
with the best production equipment and crew,
we provided enthusiastic fans across the Arab
world coverage from the region’s most anticipated
football tournament.”

RENTAL HOUSES MUST
OFFER MORE COMPETITIVE
RATES: JAMAL AL SHARIF
Rental houses offering production kit for film
projects in Dubai must stock more equipment
and offer better rates or be prepared for more
competition, Jamal Al Sharif, Managing Director
of Dubai Studio City, cautioned.
“My advice to them is to review your prices, and
take care of the people who are coming to shoot
in Dubai or we shall bring in more competition,” Al
Sharif told BroadcastPro ME.
“We are already in touch with a few rental
houses to come to Dubai and I think it’s fair
as Dubai is an open market. We need it to be
affordable for people to come in from outside
to shoot. Dubai is opening its doors to big
productions and right now, some companies are
bringing in equipment from Kuwait and India
because the prices are higher or it’s not available
in the local market,” he stated.

Jamal Al Sharif,
MD, Dubai Studio City.

Al Sharif added that with TV productions growing
in the region, there is a need for more TV equipment.
“Our Location Approval Services (LAS) department
had more than 1100 applicants last year, which
means there is a lot of demand and the existing
market is unable to meet it,” he said.

TBS TO REDUCE EMEA STAFF BY 30%
Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) will reduce
the headcount across its EMEA operations by
30%. Presently, there are 1,200 employees
in 30 offices across the region that will be
affected by this decision.The restructure is
the result of an EMEA-wide review announced
in September last year.
Turner said the new organisational
structure, announced by Gerhard Zeiler,
president of TBS International, is
designed to give more operating power
and accountability within the regions, as
opposed to large central functions.
“This review required us to take some
tough decisions, but they are absolutely
necessary to put Turner International
in the best possible position for future
growth. Greater empowerment and broader
accountability for local management will
lead to simplified processes throughout
the organisation, improved efficiency and
reduced costs,” said Zeiler.

ARABSAT CONTRACTS ASTRIUM AND THALES ALENIA SPACE TO BUILD BADR-7
Arabsat has finalised the mission definition
for BADR-7 and confirmed the in-orbit delivery
contract to the consortium of Astrium and Thales
Alenia Space, which has already started building
the new satellite. Astrium and Thales Alenia Space
are jointly responsible for building the satellite and
delivering it in orbit. Astrium, the leading partner, will
supply the Eurostar E3000 platform and integrate
the satellites. Thales Alenia Space will design and
build the communications payload.
The new satellite, the first in Arabsat’s sixth
generation of satellites, will be co-located with

Stefan Breder and
Munzer Rushdi.

Arabsat satellites at the 26° East video hot spot
known as BADR. It will extend Arabsat’s in-orbit
capacity at this location for direct-to-home television
broadcast and telecommunications services, and will
provide broadband services in Ka-band with spot

beam coverage. BADR-7 is based on the Astriumbuilt Eurostar E3000 platform and is able to operate
up to 24 transponders in Ku-band and 24 spot
beams in Ka-band, as well as three transponders in
Ka-band for additional services.

SPI AND ARABSAT TIE Global film distribution and content business company, SPI International has signed a
long-term agreement with Arabsat for the exclusive distribution rights of three new HD channels in HD/SD for
MENA region. The three channels, Fighbox HD, Fashionbox HD and Docubox, will be broadcast on the Arabsat
BADR-5 satellite at 26 degrees East and on Arabsat-5C satellite at 20 degrees East.
“We are very pleased to start a partnership with SPI International; we are committed to provide them with
the best satellite services and bring them to Arabsat neighbourhood of more than 170 million viewers over the
Middle East and Africa,” stated Khalid Balkheyour, President and CEO of Arabsat in a statement.

BROADCAST SOLUTIONS OPENS OFFICE IN DUBAI
German systems integrator Broadcast Solutions has recently established a new office in Dubai. General
Manager Munzer Rushdi, who has more than 27 years experience in the industry, will oversee the
systems integrator’s Middle East operations.
“The office in Dubai is for networking and securing new business,” Rushdi told BroadcastPro ME.
“Our factory in Bingen, Germany is where we are headquartered and although we are growing our
presence in many parts of the world, this will remain the main facility.”
Managing Director Stefan Breder, who was in Dubai briefly to secure a deal, added that Broadcast
Solutions’ engineers are available in the region should clients require their expertise for a project.
“We understand every aspect of broadcast infrastructure and now we are bringing our experience to
the Middle East market. We already see a strong interest in our solutions and products,” he stated.
The systems integrator will announce its new presence in the Middle East officially at CABSAT, where
it will showcase all of its areas of competence and new products.
“This is our third year at CABSAT as exhibitor,” Peter Jakobsson, Director of Business Development said.
“We have realised how important this event is and will, therefore, have a large two-storey stand to house
a brand new six-camera OB vehicle that is custom built for the region and the CABSAT show.”

February 2013 | www.broadcastprome.com |

11

The only HD camera
with ALL the right
connections....
....and now with
3G 1080p/50

CABSAT EXPANDS WITH
NEW EXHIBITORS
The 2013 edition of CABSAT, which will run
from March 12 to 14 at Dubai World Trade
Centre boasts a 15% increase in size and is
set to welcome leading broadcast and satellite
technology companies from around the world.
The show has had to be moved from Sheikh
Saeed Hall to Halls 1 to 8 owing to the huge demand,
according to Maryam Al Mehairi, Group Sales Manager
& Government Liaison, CABSAT, Exhibitions & Events
Department, Dubai World Trade Centre.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have had new exhibitors for the show
including EMC Isilon, My HD Media, Siemens,
Thaicom, Harris Caprock, Thuraya, Esâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;hailSat,
Venuetech, Yamaha Music, Extron, miniCaster, ATEME,
Minerva, Intellicast, Digital Broadcast Solutions,
Advanced Broadcast Solutions, Con-Sol, Bosch, IHSE
USA, Baba Broadcast Services, Altech Multimedia,
DAMsmart and BFE.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are others like Qvest Media and
Broadcast Solutions that have doubled their
exhibition space for 2013 while Vizrt, Advanced
Media Trading and MediaCast among others have
increased their space considerably.â&#x20AC;?
CABSAT is also introducing a new Broadcasting
Conference as part of its Academy Knowledge
Exchange Platform. The Conference is being

A file photo from
CABSAT 2012.

managed this year by Saudin Dungog-Noddings.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;There will be a mix of free and paid sessions,
with vendor presentations, workshops and interactive
tutorials alongside the broadcast conference and the
satellite conference organised in partnership with GVF,â&#x20AC;?
Al Mehairi clarified.
CABSAT will also feature a dedicated â&#x20AC;&#x153;Africa in
Focusâ&#x20AC;? zone on the exhibition floor. This provides
a starting point and networking area for the many
decision makers coming from emerging African markets.
Also new to 2013 is a VIP visitor programme,
designed to ensure that C-level executives make the
most of their time at CABSAT. This offers exclusive
networking opportunities as well as dedicated events
and access to a special lounge.

121 TERRESTRIAL TV STATIONS
BROADCAST IN 18 ARAB COUNTRIES
Palestine, Iraq and Egypt lead in the number
of terrestrial TV stations, hosting 59.5% of total
terrestrial TV channels in the Arab World, according
to the Arab Advisors Group.
Local terrestrial TV stations, at one point, were
the main source of entertainment and information
for people in the Arab world. Despite the boom
in the supply of free satellite TV channels in the
region, local terrestrial TV stations have stayed alive
in the region. Morocco is the only country that has
terrestrial channels that are jointly owned by the
government and the private sector. The majority
of terrestrial TV channels in Palestine and Iraq are
privately owned while Egypt has the largest number
of state-backed terrestrial TV channels.

Handling the highest-quality content in fiber-ready
venues or mobile production environments is a must,
and it’s never been easier. Our fiber connectivity, signal
management and monitoring systems can save you
space, weight and power and keep you ready for rapid
reconfigurations. Miranda’s solution suite, including
Telecast fiber solutions, is a game changer. Integrated
production workflows and fiber connectivity that lets
you get in, get connected and get pictures, FAST, then
get ready for the next event.

PROCESSING

ROUTING

GRAPHICS

MULTIVIEWERS

CONTROL

Manage and process the
signals in your workflow with
Miranda’s Densité modular
platform.

An NVISION routing solution
for any application including
purpose-built, compact and
hybrid truck routers.

What’s your alibi?
Where were you on the night of March 24, 2012
just after midnight?
If you were looking for an alibi you’d
have a good one – like another 391,604
people, you were watching the Arab
Idol finale. That’s more than 6% of the
whole population of the UAE, and don’t
forget, less than half of the UAE is
Arabic-speaking. In terms of the audience
watching TV at that time, more than
63%, nearly two in every three Emiratis
and Arabs were watching at the peak.
It was the biggest single moment of the
year in terms of television in the UAE.
So what else have we learnt after a
year of people meters in the UAE?
That people watch Arab Idol, Harem
Al Soltan and Bade Aache? That MBC1
is the most popular channel? That
Asianet is the biggest Asian channel?
If this was all, it would be no surprise.
We knew, or guessed those things already.
Two things stand out for me from
the first year of detailed audience
measurement in the UAE.
The first might be summed up in a
saying from Yorkshire, in northern England
which is “There’s nowt so queer as folk”.
It means that people behave in
strange and unpredictable ways –
they always have and always will.
They don’t watch the same channels
every night. They stop watching
programmes; they skip episodes; they
pick up halfway through a series.
Even stranger, Arab households watch
Indian channels, Emirati men watch
Bollywood movies dubbed in Arabic
and yes, women watch football.
There have been times when I’ve
looked at the results and wondered how
such a thing was possible but on further
investigation you realise that yes, there
are local men with foreign wives so that’s
why an Emirati household might watch
an English or Hindi channel. When we
looked at ratings for the UAE Football
League, we discovered that around a
third of viewing comes from women.

When we looked at why a programme
dips in the middle of a series, we
discovered that a major one-off celebrity
event was on a rival channel that night.
How do we explain such things?
The answer is, we check there are
no problems or technical causes
but beyond that, we don’t try.
As Sherlock Holmes would say to
Watson, “When you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however
improbable, must be the truth”.
These things happen, not on a massive
scale but enough to be measured.
And it’s enough for smart advertisers
and programmers to take advantage
of trends and behaviours that may
never have been spotted previously.

That’s something that will become more
normal as the market matures and learns
to use this data in a more granular way. For
now, however, the focus is still very much
on top channels, and with that in mind, the
surprise is perhaps that MBC is even more
dominant than was previously suspected.

CHANNEL RANKING UAE 2012 – ARAB EXPATS
RANK

CHANNELS

AVG WKLY
TRP

AVG
SHARE

1

MBC1

265.6

4.72

2

MBC2

185.2

3

3

MBC4

170.2

3

4

MBC DRAMA

138.9

2

5

MBC ACTION

119.7

2

6

MBC MAX

116.3

2

7

DUBAI TV

111.7

1

8

ABU DHABI AL OULA

103.4

1

9

ROTANA CINEMA

90.5

1

10

AL ARABIYA

79.2

1

That’s quite a level
of domination – a
clean sweep of the
top six channels,
and if you include
Al Arabiya then it’s
seven of the top 10.

“There have been times when I’ve looked at results
and wondered how such a thing was possible but
on further investigation, you realise that yes, there are
local men with foreign wives so that’s why an Emirati
household might watch an English or Hindi channel”

Competitive Five-­Band OPTIMOD sound in a
compact package at the most affordable
price ever. Ideal for network operations
because audio processor and stand-­alone
stereo encoder modes can be swapped
on-­air without glitches.

OPTIMOD-­FM 8600
2UEDQ¶V QHZ ÀDJVKLS )0 SURFHVVRU RIIHUV
greater transient impact, decreases audio
distortion, and 2 to 3 dB more high frequency
energy than its predecessor, the 8500.
The 8600 is truly a new generation of audio
processing.

PROTRENDS
Emiratis are a little more competitive with some other
channels sneaking in and local channels more prominent.

Finally, let’s look at the South Asian market. The dominance of
Asianet is no surprise given the number of Keralites in the UAE.

CHANNEL RANKING UAE 2012 - EMIRATIS

CHANNEL RANKING UAE 2012 – SOUTH ASIANS

RANK

CHANNELS

AVG WKLY
TRP

AVG
SHARE

RANK

CHANNELS

AVG WKLY
TRP

AVG
SHARE

1

MBC1

255.1

6.45

1

ASIANET MIDDLE EAST

403.6

8.53

2

DUBAI TV

141.1

3.57

2

SONY TV

139.2

2.94

3

MBC2

124.5

3.15

3

ASIANET NEWS

133.4

2.82

4

ABU DHABI AL OULA

123.2

3.12

4

STAR PLUS

99.4

2.1

5

MBC DRAMA

119.5

3.02

5

MAZHVIL MANORAMA

86.3

1.82

6

ZEE AFLAM

116.2

2.94

6

ZEE TV

71.8

1.52

7

MCB4

107.1

2.71

7

ZEE AFLAM

59.8

1.27

8

MCB MAX

98.7

2.5

8

GEO TV (MIDDLE EAST)

56.9

1.2

9

MCB ACTION

93

2.35

9

KAIRALI

52.6

1.11

10

SAMA DUBAI

74.5

1.88

10

COLORS

49.6

1.05

MBC still enjoys six slots in the top ten. It was interesting to note that
Zee Aflam occupied slot number six. Clearly, it has hit a sweet spot
with Emiratis, both male and female.

I think the order of the Hindi channels might have surprised some
but the area that stands out for me here is the way advertisers seem
to view this market, and how it is perhaps under-utilised and undervalued. This, perhaps, is a subject to return to in another column.

Yes there’s an upswing in viewing in Ramadan and it is more
concentrated in the evening but only by about 30 minutes per day
for Arab expats. In fact, for Emiratis, there’s hardly any change.
And the Ramadan shows do well but there’s plenty of competition
the rest of the year. It’s the big entertainment shows such as Arabs
Got Talent and The Voice, and series like Fatma as well as big
movies that take the top spots for Arab expats. (Note that these are
averages across series.)
I wonder if in future this will
lead to some adjustment in
EXPATS
budgets, for programmes
and advertising. Certainly,
GENRE
AVG
AVG
AVG
RTG%
RTG (000)
SHARE
the finance departments
will welcome more even
ENTERTAINMENT
7.52
153.41 33.63
spending across the year.
So there we have it, a year
SERIES
4.83
98.71 20.32
of audience measurement.
ENTERTAINMENT
4.18
85.89 19.08
In another year’s time, I
hope we will be able to
SERIES
4.03
82.1
21.17
look back and compare
year-on-year on data, and
that regional television
MOVIE
3.91
79.65 20.27
will be that much closer to
ENTERTAINMENT
3.71
75.39 19.16
having a broad, viable and
sustainable business. PRO

The second big area that stood out for me was Ramadan. If you
talk to anyone in the region at certain times, you might be forgiven
for thinking Ramadan was the only time of the year they cared about
in terms of programmes, and that viewers were glued to their sets
ready to absorb every piece of content.
No doubt, there is an effect on consumption generally, but in
television viewing, the picture is not as clear cut – research so
rarely is!

TOP 10 UAE PROGRAMMES OF 2012 – ARAB
RANK

TITLE/DESCRIPTION

CHANNEL

1

ARAB’S GOT TALENT/S2

MBC 4

2

FATMA

MBC 4

3

ARAB IDOL

MBC 1

4

FATMA/S2

MBC 1

5

TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING
DAWN: PART 1

MBC 2

6

THE VOICE

MBC 1

7

FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF
THE SILVER SURFER

MBC 2

MOVIE

3.25

66.66

17.34

8

SHABAYET AL CARTOON

SAMA DUBAI

SERIES

3.17

64.73

12.11

9

CLICK

MBC 2

MOVIE

3.09

63.16

14.3

10

BANAT AL AAYLA

MBC DRAMA

SERIES

2.9

59.08

12.35

Christopher O’Hearn is general manager of Emirates Media Measurement
Company, which has rolled out ‘tview’,
the UAE’s new television ratings and
audience measurement system and
the first in the Middle East.

February 2013 | www.broadcastprome.com |

17

PROCOVER

Consultant Mohammed
Irfan addressing some of
the staff at Libya Al Ahrar.

Libya

Unleashed
This March, Libyaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first news channel will turn two. It
was launched during the revolution by an ex-Information
Minister and journalist to keep the Libyan people
informed about the revolution. In an exclusive interview
with Vijaya Cherian, the people behind the project, share
details of the making of the first news channel in the
country post-revolution

20 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

Mahmud Shammam is a well known
figure in Libya. Following the ouster of
ex-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi,
Shammam, who lived in exile for more
than 30 years, was asked to head an
entity akin to the Ministry of Media
under the National Transitional Council
(NTC) in the country while the Libyan
government went through a period

PROCOVER

of transition. Although the entity
was dissolved eventually as various
government bodies began to take
shape, the ex-Information Minister then
moved into his next natural role, which
was to invest in the country’s media.
Today, Shammam’s news channel Libya
Al Ahrar, popularly known as Libya TV,
is said to be one of the most watched
news channels in the country.
Shammam is no stranger to the media
world. The Libyan-American worked
as the editor of the Arabic edition of
Newsweek in the US and later, served
on the board of Al Jazeera Network. It
was his dream to one day help shape
the media in his country and the
time was ripe when Gaddafi fell.
Unable to open an office in Libya in
2011, Libya Al Ahrar began its operations
from Al Rayyan TV’s facility in Qatar.
Shammam gradually assembled his

team which comprised other Libyans.
“Mohammed Akary, the first General
Manager of the channel; Mojahid Albosifi;
Tarik AlGiziry, Sleman Abuzid and
Huda Elsrari, present General Manager
of the channel all played a crucial role
in this project,” explains Shammam.
Despite threats from Gaddafi’s
government, the team dispatched
reporters to different parts of Libya. The
footage was then received via satellite at
the Doha office before being retransmitted.
Although the channel began with
skeletal facilities at the time of launch,
it wasn’t until last year — under the
guidance of UAE-based consultant
Broadcast Systems Arabia (BSA) — that
all of the technical pieces of the jigsaw
were put together for the channel and
its correspondents to efficiently cover
the July 2012 elections in the country.
BSA is primarily run by Mohammed

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Staff installing cameras on the
DSNG van; Mahmud Shammam, CEO of the channel; HD
cameras kits awaiting installation and one of the channel’s
reporters on location. BELOW: The completed studio on the
terrace of the building.

February 2013 | www.broadcastprome.com |

21

PROCOVER

“We needed to hire a civil contractor to
undertake this job but nobody knew how to
make a studio, forget doing it in 45 days. A local
company eventually ... [undertook] this following
which we contracted Gulf Media (GMCO), a
Qatar-based SI to [do the] integration”
Mohammed Irfan, CEO and consultant, Broadcast Systems Arabia

TOP PIC: Mohammed Irfan
poses against the backdrop
of a DSNG installation and
below, building of the studio
in progress.

Irfan, a broadcast consultant, who
undertook his first Libyan project for
Dubai-based Al Aan TV following the
dethronement of Gaddafi. While most
other systems integrators feared to step
into Libya, Irfan went forward to roll out
an entire network of radio transmitters
for Al Aan TV across the country. The
exercise took him all the way from the
markets of Libya, where he discovered
what kit was available and the best means
to ship that which was not available
from neighbouring countries, to hiring
local people and integrating solutions.
Seven months later, the consultant was
back in Dubai as perhaps one of the few

22 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

professionals with true market knowledge
of how to navigate his way through the
country and build a broadcast station.
For Shammam, Irfan served as the
perfect candidate to advice on how to
build studios in the country and what kit
to install for the efficient rollout of news
and related programmes for the channel.
As a result, while the headquarters
remained in Doha, Libya Al Ahrar began
its efforts to build its first High Definition
studio in Benghazi.
“Previously, there were no production
studios in Benghazi. Libya Al Ahrar is the
first channel to have built a studio there.
We also have small offices in Misrata

Minimize complexity,
maximize availability.
Headends from
Rohde & Schwarz.
The compact 存AVHE100 is setting new standards for audio/video
headends. It is based on professional IT hardware, and the entire
range of functions has been implemented using an innovative software
architecture. The integrated headend management system supports
touchscreens for intuitive operation of the 存AVHE100. Special
CrossFlowIP technology developed by Rohde & Schwarz maximizes
system availability. The 存AVHE100 keeps you on air 24/7.
See for yourself by visiting
www.rohde-schwarz.com/ad/avhe100
Rohde & Schwarz
Middle East and Africa FZ-LLC
Office No. 210, Building No. 01, 2nd Floor
Dubai Media City, U.A.E.
Tel: +971 (0)4 44 61 900
E-mail: sales.mea@rohde-schwarz.com

存AVHE100

Visit us at CABSAT
in Dubai, March 12 to 14
and get your free poster
at booth C5-10, hall 5

E5 – Efficiency to
the power of five:
The future-proof
transmitter
generation.
As a network operator, you require clever, efficient solutions.
With the ¸Tx9 series, you select a future-ready generation
of transmitters meeting all your requirements:
Ɗ'HHKEKGPE[KPGPGTI[
Economical: efficiency up to 38 % thanks to
Doherty technology.
Ɗ'HHKEKGPE[KPURCEG
Space-saving: up to six transmitters in one rack.
Ɗ'HHKEKGPE[KPQRGTCVKQP
Smooth: installation, operation and maintenance.
Ɗ'HHKEKGPE[KPEQPHKIWTCVKQP
Customer-focused: modular solutions for flexible
system configuration.
Ɗ'HHKEKGPE[HQTCNKHGVKOG
Future-ready: can be expanded to accommodate
new standards and technologies.
www.rohde-schwarz.com/ad/e5
Rohde & Schwarz
Middle East and Africa FZ-LLC
Office No. 210, Building No. 01, 2nd Floor
Dubai Media City, U.A.E.
Tel: +971 (0)4 44 61 900
E-mail: sales.mea@rohde-schwarz.com

E 5s'HƛEKGPE[VQ
VJGRQYGTQHƛXG

Visit us at CABSAT
in Dubai, March 12 to 14
and get your free poster
at booth C5-10, hall 5

PROCOVER
The Lebanese production
team (right) came down to
train Libya Al Ahrar’s staff
in HD production.

and Tripoli,” explains Shammam.
16 Sony HD camera kits were deployed
for the entire project while four NLE
and GFX rooms were put in place.
The project included several elements
including hiring satellite segments for
occasional broadcast on Arabsat and
Eutelsat; installing permanent satellite
uplink facilities from Tripoli, Benghazi
and Misrata; purchasing and setting
up a dozen DSNG vans; setting up a
UPS generator; and more importantly,
hiring and training local staff on
HD production and equipment.
While all of this seems like part of a
standard broadcast setup, it assumed a
different meaning in Libya, where the
team had to research how to undertake
the smallest of tasks. It was as much a
learning experience for the channel’s
setup team as it was for Libyan authorities.
A four-camera HD studio, for instance,
had to be erected in Benghazi.
The choice of venue posed a
challenge in this case. Initially, the
team looked at villas but these were
not high enough for a studio set up.
“We needed the rooms to be at least
5 to 6 ms in height and this was not
available,” explains BSA’s Irfan.
“As a result, the channel decided to
build its own studio – its own hangar
setup and rented a three-storey building
for the purpose. We needed to hire a
civil contractor to undertake this job
but nobody knew how to make a studio,
forget doing it in 45 days. A local company
eventually came forward to undertake this
following which we contracted Gulf Media
(GMCO), a Qatar-based systems integrator
to undertake the deployment of the
systems in the studio and their integration.
Although the civil contractor initially
asked for two months to do the job as
Libya adheres to 8 to 5 work schedules,
it later brought in three labour teams
to work in three shifts, explains Irfan.
“In this way, we completed the hangar
setup in 22 days starting from scratch
including the steel work, the sandwich
panels, acoustics, painting, power
and other infrastructure. 70 people
worked on this project,” adds Irfan.

The building was equipped
with 42 air conditioning units,
and a 150 kVA generator and UPS
system for 24/7 operation.
Alongside the civil works, GMCO
worked on putting the solutions
together for the studio and this was
primarily undertaken in Egypt.
“They wanted to build a fully
professional SD/HD studio in Benghazi
and no other company was willing to
take the risk of building a studio from
scratch in less than a month or going to
Libya. We did this in record time so Libya
Al-Ahrar TV could cover the parliament
elections on time,” explains Eng. Ali
Al-Kaabi, GMCO’s General Manager.
GMCO, which offers consultancy and
technical support for broadcasters and
radio stations, undertook the entire studio
project for Bengazi from designing the
studio and lighting grid to configuring
the AV, lighting equipment and devices
including the vision mixer, the sound
mixer, camcorders, CCU, CG, VTR, frames,
racks, consoles, monitors, lighting, cables,
and all other studio accessories. GMCO
also designed and installed the power
and the UPS in addition to undertaking
the studio operations and training
the crew under BSA’s supervision.
“The studio had to be up and running

in 45 days,” explains BSA’s Irfan.
“The broadcasting equipment was
pre installed in Egypt. Gulf Media
pre installed all of the studio racks in
Egypt, packed them into containers and
drove 1800kms from Cairo to Benghazi
by road to deliver it. Some of the
equipment had to be shipped by air.”
One of the big issues was sound proofing
the studio.
“Acoustics was a huge challenge
because apparently, they have
not been done in Libya before but
GMCO worked on this,” he says.
120 live transmissions were done
continuously around Libya during
the elections by the channel with
the help of the DSNG vans.
“Even the CNN and the BBC were
quoting Libya Al Ahrar,” says Irfan.
Logistics was a big concern as all of
the equipment was not available in Libya
and cargo flights from neighbouring
Turkey were limited. In addition, at some
point, the airport in Tripoli was closed.
“We had to import the generator, the
UPS, the DV boxes and other power
infrastructure from Turkey. This was
the nearest place to acquire good
equipment and we got everything in
nine days. Of course, this is all fairly
new to the Libyan environment so we

Today’s broadcasters need more and more audio channels at ever-higher resolutions, more power
to handle this increased channel count and more ergonomic control surfaces to manipulate them.
Naturally, Calrec has the answer.
With the same levels of reliability which Calrec are world-renowned, and a remarkably intuitive
control surface which still manages to add enormous flexibility, Apollo is nothing short of
revolutionary. Calrec’s Bluefin2 DSP engine equips Apollo with more than 1000 channels for
5.1 Surround production and its internal 8192² Hydra2 router turns the console into a powerful
networking tool.
The world’s most successful broadcasters rely on Calrec consoles.
Apollo is the first of Calrec’s new generation.

2

calrec.com

LE

NNE

LEA B

INT

L

A2 V
IA A
RANG
E

AB

HYDR

CHA

N
TIO
UMP
ONS
ER C

1
E 5.

D OV
ER

AL

NGL

A
FUL SC

ORKE

SC

L.SI

P OW

TRO

C

I/O N
ETW

E,

CON

ALL

SIV

INE

ON

L OW

POWER

-L
R IN
LE O

SPIL L CONTROL

OF H
YD

RA2

I/O B
OXE

S

PROCOVER

were breaking new ground even with
such basic things,” explains Irfan.
Libya Al Ahrar interviewed 86 people
for its channel and was keen to hire a new
generation of educated young men and
women, who could speak both English
and Arabic and had an IT background.
“We hired the channel manager
and an experienced TV broadcast
team for the main office. However,
for the rest of the posts, the channel
focused on hiring young ambitious
people with a keenness to learn.”
Today, the channel employs 100 staff
across Libya, producing programmes
for the channel while 50 staff members
operate from the channel’s facility in Doha.
One of the big aspects of this news
project was training.
“Most of the cameramen we had were
used to working with Standard Definition.
There was no experience with HD or
widescreen so a special production team
from Lebanon came down to Libya to
train the cameramen,” explains Irfan.
The content and daily live shows are
produced in the channel’s studios in Libya
and sent via satellite to Doha and from
there to Nilesat, Arabsat or Hotbird.
“We have three live links from Tripoli,
Misrata and Benghazi,” explains Huda
Elsrari, the channel’s General Manager.
12 DSNG vans were used to cover the
2012 elections in Libya. Unfortunately,
the vans were not registered with
Eutelsat for the Occasional Satellite
Segments and although it normally
takes two months to do this, Eutelsat
provided the channel with a temporary
licence to work with all 12 antennas
from all of the metro cities of Libya.
“In the beginning when we just
launched, we were on Arabsat, Nilesat,
and Hot Bird. But we had problems on
Nilesat and couldn’t be seen by all the
viewers in Libya,” explains Elsrari.
“This is because most people in Libya
tune into Nilesat. But people wanted
information and would turn to engineers
to help them tune into Arabsat. Many
people used to watch the pictures without
the voices or remove their children

“They wanted to build a fully professional SD/HD
studio in Benghazi and no other company was willing
to take the risk of building a studio from scratch in less
than a month or going to Libya. We did this in record
time so Libya Al-Ahrar TV could cover the parliament
elections on time”
Ali Al-Kaabi (below), General Manager, GMCO

from the environment and watch the
channel so they wouldn’t speak about
it in school. People lived in fear until
it was all over,” explains Elsrari.
Today, Libya Al Ahrar has gained a
reputation in the market for its fearless
reportage and has become a game
changer in the country. In the meantime,
11 TV channels have come up in Libya
with many more in the offing. PRO

In Brief
“The idea to start a channel originated in Qatar. Gaddafi had a strong media machine and this posed a danger
to the revolution. We began with small announcements on Facebook to ask Libyans
if they would like to join us to start a TV channel that would support the revolution.
We had responses from people from all walks of life including medical specialists
and engineers.
“We started with a basic setup. Some escaped to Tunisia and then, joined us.
Gaddafi did not like the idea of Libya Al Ahrar. Our families in Libya received many
death threats and my parents were scared. Still we managed to produce different
shows. After the revolution was over and Libya was liberated, we were the first
channel to announce Gaddafi’s arrest and became an important source of news for
many news channels including the BBC and the CNN.
“People thought we operated with a large number of producers, presenters and so on. In Doha, we have 50
people and now, we have offices in Benghazi, Tripoli and Misrata and are working towards expanding to more
places in Libya.”
— Huda Elsrari, General Manager, Libya Al Ahrar

February 2013 | www.broadcastprome.com |

27

PROREVIEW

C500
in the Field
SAE institute’s head of
film Stefan Randjelovic
takes the C500 for a
field test and shares his
views exclusively with
BroadcastPro ME

When Canon launched its C300 Cinema
EOS camera, it promised to change “the
future of filmmaking”. The C300 launch
was no small affair. It was launched in
Hollywood with testimonies from a few
filmmakers who had the opportunity
to make their films with the camera.
The C300, however, could only record
in full HD 1920x1080. The updated
lineup including the EOS C500 and
C500 PL, which began shipping late
last year, promised to change that.
We had the opportunity to test the
C500 recently and decided to go and
shoot in the desert. In the process, we

28 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

created a mini story that could work
as an introduction to a larger film.
Besides being able to do everything
that the C300 can do, the C500 can now
record 4K digital video. But recording 4K
might prove expensive as you will need
a separate recorder, and more storage.
But is it all well worth USD 26,000.
The initial feel I got with this camera
is that it is closer to the DSLR world
than the professional camcorder.
Having said that, with the C500, you
have the possibility of mounting all of the
Canon EF lenses. For those who want to
update to the C500, it’s good because they

PROREVIEW
“The frame rate flexibility for recording
video on the C500 is astounding. The camera
can utilise frame rates from one to 60fps in fullres record modes, and you can record up to
120fps using the 4K half-size RAW settings”

can still keep all of their DSLR lenses.
The C500 PL mount has access to the
full range of professional cinema lenses.
For this camera, Canon developed
a new 8.85 megapixel CMOS chip that
is roughly equivalent to the Super
35. Canon claims that the sensor is
exactly the same as the one in the C300
although it is used in a completely
different manner to record 4K video.
The camera body itself is so small
that when you mount the CP2 lenses,
you can barely see the camera while
observing it from the front.
Overall, that is a good thing. The

weight is barely noticeable; the top
handle is very comfortable and the
location of the LCD detachable screen
is ideal as it enables us to take low shots
and still be able to frame correctly.
On the right side of the camera, the
grip connector has been replaced by
3G SDI and monitor outputs. This is
not a bad thing as it is a CMOS sensor
and we’d probably need to stabilise the
camera with a rig while shooting.
Most of the buttons are either located on
the left side of the camera or to the back.
There are custom programmable
buttons but the Fn. button that is required
to change your shutter, ISO and white
balance is not very conveniently positioned.
For instance, you need to press it first
and then find the rotating dial on the
left side of the camera. Although this is
not a problem by itself, it can be a tad
difficult to change the setting and get it
right while shooting “1/25th” and looking
through the viewfinder at the same time.
At the back of the camera there is a
small information screen, two CF card
slots and a battery compartment.
It is important to note that it’s a bit
challenging to shoot with one battery only,
and I do not understand why Canon did not
bundle it with two batteries. For a camera
that retails at USD 26,000, two batteries
should have been a minimum requirement.
In the desert, the camera battery power
ran out quickly. If you keep the 3GSDI
dock open, the battery will probably run
out after 80 minutes. In the field, that time
period is very short. On another note if you
just record in full HD in MXF format, you
might get a maximum of 160 minutes.
In order to get the most of this camera
in the field, I recommend using an
Anton Bauer Canon C300/ C500 Battery
Kit, which retails at USD 1200. That’s
something to budget along with the camera.
Let’s now take a look at the compression
and the media. Obviously, this camera’s
USP is its ability to shoot 4K. You will
need an external recorder like the new
AJA quad or the Gemini from Convergent
Design and they retail somewhere in
between USD 3500 to USD 6000.

The frame rate flexibility for recording
video on the C500 is astounding. The
camera can utilise frame rates from one
to 60fps in full-res record modes, and you
can record up to 120fps using the 4K halfsize RAW settings. The camera offers the
same DCI and QFHD production standard
options for recording 2K video. One allows
for 2048 × 1080 recording, while the other
records traditional 1920 × 1080 full HD
video. The 2K shooting modes have the
option for 10-bit or 12-bit recording.
For all of these RAW 4K recording
settings, you can output the video using the
camera’s 3G-SDI terminal. There are also
dual uncompressed HD-SDI outputs that
support live monitoring. Additionally, you
can simultaneously record an MPEG-2 HD
proxy video at 50Mbps to CF cards inserted
in the C500’s dual memory card slots.
Like the C300, the C500 has two
Compact Flash memory card slots on the

Stefan Randjelovic and his team
test the Canon C500 in the desert.

February 2013 | www.broadcastprome.com |

29

PROREVIEW
back of the camera. CF cards cannot be
used to store 4K video recorded by the
camcorder, but they will simultaneously
record a full HD proxy video for editing
4K content with an offline non-linear
editing system. To store the uncompressed
RAW 4K and 2K videos captured by the
C500, you must use an external recording
system and connect it to the camera via
its dual 3G SDI terminals. This solution
is expensive—any camera or camcorder
with multiple SDI terminals is very
pricey—but it makes more sense than the
quad SD card recording put in place with
the JVC GY-HMQ10 4K camcorder. The
C500 also has an SD card slot for storing
preset data and saving various settings.
The C500 is a manual camera. By this, I
mean that it does not have auto functions
as it is meant to be used mostly on films.
So there are no zoom rockers.
Everything is controlled from the lens,
the aperture and the focus. But the
camera has a plethora of options to keep
your image sharp with peaking tools.
These include two peaking
modes, a magnified focus assist,
and edge monitoring.
With the C500, you have complete

In Brief
On my shoots, I prefer to use the Arri Alexa, or the Canon 5D Mark II. These are
the standard workhorse cameras along with the RED. The difference between this camera
and the others is its ability to record 4K video at high frame rates. The cameras I have been using
thus far do not have the ability to do both on such a small compact form factor. Frame rates up to
60p are supported, and there’s also a “4K Half” format that cuts the horizontal resolution by 50% in
order to push high frame rates (for potential slow motion) up to 120p. Similar options exist for quad
full-HD, which has a less widescreen aspect ratio and a slightly lower resolution of 3840 x 2160.

Touching Our Technology
Did you listen to the
radio today ?
If you have listened to the BBC in the
UK, to Deutsche Welle in Germany or
Sharjah Radio, then you have been
touched by SCISYS software and
technology. Radio producers use our
dira! software suite to create and
schedule music and speech items,
pre senters use a touch screen interface
and control desk to cue items – enabling
stations to deliver the high audio
experience their listeners demand.

PROREVIEW
control over exposure in the form of
shutter speed, ISO settings, mechanical
ND filters and what a joy these were
to use in daylight. We did not use any
matte box on the shoot and were still
able to get a decent exposure for our
shots at a very shallow depth of field.
The camera has an ISO range of
ISO 320 to 20,000 that was featured
on the C300, and Canon’s Log Gamma
recording allows for a 12-stop exposure
latitude in your recordings.
Regarding the latitude, we did some
shots in complete darkness and were still
able to obtain a picture with no noticeable
noise at 1200 ISO. Even at 6000 ISO, we
were able to get a very decent image.
Regarding Canon’s Log Gamma, it
provides a nice flat picture that is a
joy for any colourist. You can play with
your picture as much as you see fit in
post and not break your image. Even
on the MXF files, the compression
is barely noticeable at 50 mbps.
This is astounding for any filmmaker,
who wants to shoot at night and has
minimal lighting. We just used a small
Litepanel as a bounce to enhance our
shots and it wasn’t even at full power.
The camera is also equipped with
professional-grade exposure assistance
controls, including zebra patterns,
waveform monitors, RGB parade
display, spot display, and a vectorscope
display. Most of these functions have
their own dedicated button on the left
side of the camera, but with all of these
tools you can be sure that you won’t
ever have blown out highlights.
There’s a dedicated white balance button
on the side of the C500 and the camera
has two custom Kelvin settings that can be
stored in the camera’s memory. There’s also
an auto white balance mode and two white
balance presets for daylight and tungsten.
The C500 has no built-in microphone,
and it’s surprising to see that it does not
come bundled with a shotgun mic. The
camera features a 3.5mm mic jack and is
expandable with two XLR inputs (on the
external monitor attachment). And if you’re
not recording live sound, you can simply
remove the monitor attachment. There’s
also a headphone jack on the camera and
a wide variety of audio controls. If you
want to, you can record good audio with
this setup, but it may be preferable to
use a dedicated audio recording system
instead, like a Marantz. This keeps the

With the C500, you have complete control over exposure in the form of shutter
speed, ISO settings and mechanical ND
filters making it a joy to use in daylight,
says Randjelovic.

Cons
* Recording on an external
recorder for 4k.
* Form factor. Due to the
side panel for 4k export we
lost the grip connector.
* The viewfinder is not ideal.

C500 less cluttered when you’re shooting
video. If you’re mounting it on a rig,
it is preferable to use the Zacuto EVF
filmmaker. This setup worked like a charm
with the C500 and is highly recommended
if you plan to conduct handheld shoots
due to the form factor of the camera.
In conclusion, the C500 isn’t as
innovative or groundbreaking as the C300,
but its ability to record 4K video shows
us that we are headed towards a new
recording format. The C500 isn’t the only
camera shooting 4K. Others in this segment
include the JVC GY-HMQ10 and the Sony
NEX-FS700. But the fact that Canon has
decided to embrace 4K means it is willing to
take the whole 4K workflow to a new level.
But how can you expect to record such
a huge deluge of data? Canon is working
with several third-party vendors for
uncompressed RAW recording. For proxy
purposes, the camera also records internally
to a CompactFlash card at 50 Mb/s. This
covers you for emergency backups and
immediate editing of proxy files. This is the
Canon XF format (4:2:2 MPEG-2 with an

MXF wrapper) that the C300 also records.
The EOS C500 looks impressive. The
4K workflow for now seems well thought
out, but they are certainly expensive.
It could have benefited from at least a
recording capability of 2K on CF cards
and some higher frame rates without
resorting to an external recorder. You
may want to use the C300 for a while
as the 4K with a 4:4:4 colour profile is
an expensive option if you do not plan
to do any VFX work in your shots.
Overall, the C500 is a great camera and
the future looks bright for digital cinema. PRO
Check out the movie we shot with
this camera on: https://vimeo.
com/56804528. Special thanks to Canon
Middle East, Filmquip Media for providing us with Arri Prime lenses and Richard
Latham for his support.

Stefan Randjelovic is the head of the film
department at SAE Institute. He is also a
freelance director and DoP.

February 2013 | www.broadcastprome.com |

33

PROTV

TV Everywhere
TV Everywhere is often heralded as the future of television. And while we’ve come tantalisingly
close to making it a reality, there’s still some way to go before it becomes real
The phrase TV Everywhere refers to
the ability to watch television from
any connected device (smartphone,
tablet, or laptop) no matter where we
are. It also means the ability to pick
up watching a programme exactly
where we left off, regardless of the
device we are watching it on and the
location we are watching it at.

That means a viewer would be
able to start watching Al Bernameg
at home in their living room and then
pick up where they left off on their
smartphone while they are in a taxi
on the way to a meeting. During the
meeting, they could take out their
iPad and scroll back to a particularly
funny segment they wanted to share

34 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

with everyone. That’s a very different
experience from the one we have today.
Multichannel video programming
distributors (MVPDs) would welcome the
TV Everywhere experience for a variety
of reasons. For starters, it allows them
to increase loyalty by giving viewers a
superior experience. From a more practical
standpoint, it would allow them greater

PROTV
have sued the MVPDs to prevent them
from making TV Everywhere available to
their subscribers and the most recent set
of compromises involved allowing viewers
to watch on connected devices so long as
they remained in their own homes and
connecting to the internet via the same
provider that supplied their pay TV service.
That arrangement seemed to change
earlier this month when Dish, a leading US
satellite provider and the country’s thirdlargest MVPD, announced the launch of the
Sling Hopper, a device that takes advantage
of Slingbox technology to allow viewers to

An issue that the industry must address for TV Everywhere to
succeed is the scarcity of bandwidth and Wi-Fi coverage in
most regions, says Wolk.

revenue opportunities as viewers now
have a number of screens on which to
view the advertising they sell. In areas
where cable penetration is limited,
cellular signals may be the best way for
viewers to get access to TV content and
so allowing them to view it on a tablet or
smartphone would be a win-win situation.
For the viewer, TV Everywhere is a
very compelling proposition. It would
allow them more freedom as to where
and when they watched their favourite
programmes. Rather than have to wait
until they returned home to catch the
end of a football match, they’d be able to
continue watching on the bus ride home.
Some of the TV Everywhere systems
being introduced in the US give viewers
the ability to download shows onto their
tablets for offline viewing. This would be
a boon for business travelers and anyone
else who frequently finds themselves in an
internet-free zone. Since the usual option
in these situations is to download a VOD
movie, allowing viewers to download shows
creates greater loyalty to those shows
and helps keep viewership numbers up.
While TV Everywhere is an exciting
proposition, it is not without its roadblocks.
Ad measurement is an issue all of the
players must contend with. While there
are established metrics for determining
who is watching programming on the
primary TV screen, there is no established
measurement for programmes that are
watched on secondary screens. Until the
industry solves this problem, networks will
lose ad dollars as views go uncounted. This
is the primary reason TV networks in the
US have resisted TV everywhere efforts:
they are afraid that the second screen will
become the first screen for many viewers
and that this will eat into their ad revenue.
While this fear is certainly valid, there
are many people who are currently working
on accurate ways to count these additional
views, and viewers, and deliver ads to
them dynamically, so that consumers will
only see ads that are relevant to where
they are and what they are watching.
This will help ensure that broadcasters
are able to maximise profits without
impinging on the customer experience.

“Sling Hopper [is] a device that takes advantage
of Slingbox technology to allow viewers to
watch anything that is on their home settop box anywhere in the world, regardless of
how they are connected to the internet”
Another issue the industry must
address for TV Everywhere to be a
success is the scarcity of bandwidth and
Wi-Fi coverage in most regions. This is a
concern around the globe, for while TV
may be everywhere, Wi-Fi is not. As a
result, there are only a limited number
of places where we can watch content
outside the home. That has served to lessen
the broader appeal of TV Everywhere.
Here again, technology may come to
the rescue with innovative solutions.
There are researchers working on
finding a way to decrease the amount
of bandwidth needed to watch video so
that it’s more easily viewed on 3G and
even 2G connections, while at the same
time, other researchers are working to
create the next generation of cellular
internet, the 5G solution. Both of these
advances would increase the reach of TV
Everywhere and make the solution more
viable — and popular — for consumers,
particularly in regions where public wifi
connections are few and far between.
While TV Everywhere is the single
most-discussed feature of the future of
television, adoption has been slow. South
Korea, which has one of the world’s
most advanced 4G networks, is one of
the few places where it is common to
see people watching live streaming TV
broadcasts on their phones in the subway.
In addition to the lack of universal Wi-Fi
coverage, adoption in the US has been
held up by a host of legal issues: networks

36 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

watch anything that is on their home settop box anywhere in the world, regardless
of how they are connected to the internet.
While it’s expected that the major
networks will challenge the SlingHopper
in court, it’s also expected that the other
MVPDs will push back on the networks
to give them the ability to create similar
functionality. Once that happens, TV
Everywhere in the US should become
much more ubiquitous and the opportunity
cost of building out ways to support
that service (e.g. more 4G connections)
will become much more favorable.
The MENA region may not have the
extensive cable networks found in the US
and Europe, but that may actually work
to its advantage. By bypassing traditional
cable connections and going straight to 4G,
satellite and similar services, MVPDs in the
region may be able to offer their customers
systems that are more advanced than those
found in Europe or North America. It’s
similar to the situation with mobile phones
fifteen years ago, when countries with
extensive landline connections were slower
to adopt advances in mobile technology.
However, as the next few years play
out, one thing is certain: TV Everywhere
is most definitely the future of television
around the world. The technology is there;
the demand is there and now it’s up to
the industry to make it happen. PRO
Alan Wolk is Global Lead Analyst at
KIT digital.

Clear-Com
B8-22
Clear-Com, an HME company, delivers
professional intercom communication systems
for mission-critical communication platform
for production teams in a variety of industries
around the world.

FURUKAWA
B6-41
FURUKAWA HDTV Optical Camera Cable and
accessories. Cable is approved by top TV camera
makers and is requested for major broadcast events.

I Like Music
D6-32
We provide a digital Music library (used
throughout the BBC) to broadcasters and
production companies enabling online
access to search, audition and download
uncompressed music files together with
recommendation facility.

ScheduALL EMEA Ltd
C7-23
ScheduALL is the leading global provider
of enterprise resource management (ERM)
solutions for the broadcast, satellite/
transmission, media, and entertainment
industries - with over 1,200 installations in more
than 53 countries.

UR Group
H2-21
UR Group provides technological & service
solutions in Power, Communications and
SCM. With extensive product knowledge and
market-focused strategy it can provide design,
development, application support and fulfilment
throughout its global locations.

TV One Ltd
D6-31
TV One specializes in video, audio and multimedia
processing equipment, based on its proprietary
CORIO video conversion technology. TV One
manufactures a complete line-up of products for
the professional and broadcast video market.

Viewsat
H2-20
ViewSat is an international provider of broadcast
services for television and radio channels,
spanning a global market, which includes Sub
Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe
and North America. There are few limitations to
ViewSat’s services, with our own teleport and
strategic partnerships around the world.
Building CH5, Normandy Business Park, Cobbett
Hill Road, Normandy, Surrey, GU3 2AA

London’s Tech City is the largest and fastest growing technology
cluster in Europe. With the City of London’s venture capital
community next door, low tax, less regulation and a talented
workforce, it’s the smartest location for a new generation of
entrepreneurs. Find out more with UK Trade & Investment.

Flickr Geotag Map
London

ukti.gov.uk/greatbritain

PROTECH

Exploring multi-screen
delivery

The key to the success of any OTT service is the quality of
delivery, says Antonin Král of nangu.tv

There’s no doubt that smart phones
and tablets have provided a major
technological breakthrough in how we
operate. Look around and you’re likely to
see someone using their device to search
for content, watch it or interact either
directly or via social media applications.
A plethora of content consumption
reports and studies support the huge
rise in multi-screen viewing habits in
countries across the world. In May
2012, Nielsen’s Global Survey of Multi-

Screen Media Usage reported that more
than 28,000 internet respondents in 56
countries indicated that watching video
content on computers has become just
as popular as watching video content on
television among online consumers.
Over 80% reported watching video
content at home on a computer (84%) or
on TV (83%) at least once a month. By
contrast, in 2010, more online consumers
reported watching video content on
TV (90%) than on a computer (86%)

in a month-long period. In the nine
months since the report was published,
these figures are likely to have swung
further with the trend for tablet and
mobile applications growing rapidly.
In Europe, the Orange Exposure
2012/2013 annual independent study
by TNS published in November 2012,
examined mobile media habits across
UK, France and Spain for the advertising
industry. It showed mobile as the primary
screen of choice for 11–18 year olds with a

February 2013 | www.broadcastprome.com |

45

PROTECH
nangu.TV’s Media Platform provides an end-to-end
service that includes the back-end infrastructure
giving the operator one contact point from integration
to delivery.

“The development of OTT delivery means that
service provision can be separated from network
ownership/operation allowing a much faster rate
of service deployment and growth helping to
satisfy the demands of the modern consumer”
very high penetration of smartphones and
highlighted the power of social networking
and social TV in this demographic. The
study also showed that adults are using
screens more interchangeably than
ever before with less preference for one
over another. The trend doesn’t just
apply to adults and teenagers. Many
younger children woke up to find a tablet
amongst their presents this Christmas.
These figures are being mirrored in
countries across the world and as such,
operators need to be able to provide a
combined service offering that’s simple
to navigate with high quality services.
There are three parties involved in the
delivery of content to consumers: network
owners/operators, service providers and
third-party content aggregators (Hulu/
Netflix etc). The development of Over-theTop delivery (OTT) means that service
provision can be separated from network
ownership/operation allowing a much
faster rate of service deployment and
growth helping to satisfy the demands of
the modern consumer. Audiences don’t

just want the freedom to view content
anytime, anywhere; they now expect
it – they are truly network-agnostic.
For ISPs, along with cable, mobile
and hospitality TV service providers
to survive in this highly competitive
market they need a complementary
mechanism to deliver value-added
features including: non-linear TV, VoD,
triple- screen, hybrid boxes and mobile
applications and that mechanism is OTT.
OTT delivery — where the service
provided is separated from the network
— allows consumers to access the same
content on their mobile, tablet and TV
provided that they have a good enough
internet connection and a service provider
that understands the pitfalls and the
quality that’s expected. Not all OTT
delivery is created equally as many of
us know: video drop-out and buffering
are common problems. Sometimes a
complete loss of service is the result.
The key to the success of OTT is the
quality of delivery and this is where
the wheat is separated from the chaff.

46 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

Adaptive streaming technology is the
driver in this arena. Adaptive streaming
frequently checks the connection type
and strength for both linear and nonlinear content and adapts accordingly for
quality optimisation. Therefore it allows
service providers and content aggregators
to deliver all their services to all devices
(multi-screen delivery) via a single platform
reducing resources and operational costs
and providing a pay-as-you-grow model.
With the integration of apps on mobile,
tablet and smart TVs, watching OTT
content across multi-screen devices
has never been easier. Users simply
purchase the application via the App
Store or Google Play and access content
on their platform using the pin number
provided by their operator. The high
level search functionality technology on
smart phones and tablet devices provided
by the delivery platform allows users to
select and view content quickly and easily.
The operator can also offer universal
Users can access content on their platform
using the pin number provided by their
operator if they purchase the relevant
application via the App Store or Google Play.

PROTECH

“By delivering quality TV services, operators
are expanding their market potential and thereby
significantly increasing revenue and meeting the
ever increasing demands of their customer base”
recommendations, increasing social TV
interaction and advertising revenues.
For the viewer, this means remote
viewing capabilities as well as the ability
to use their smartphone or tablet as a
remote control for the television with
significantly increased search capability.
Remote applications enable simple
browse capability whilst pop-up push
notifications on the second screen alert the
user that content is starting and a single
click plays it on the TV via the set-top box.
Search optimisation is highly advanced,
enabling filtering based on chosen
criteria. Users can search, record,
bookmark or play content on the TV
then freeing up the second device.
Unlimited devices can be connected
to the server allowing operators to

set their own parameters. High-level
security settings mean that subscribers
can put in place strict parental control
where necessary. Users can check
which devices are connected to the
platform and are able to disable or switch
devices without having to purchase
another application or connection.
The multi-screen revolution is being
driven by the consumer and is developing
quickly. It offers huge potential and a
bright future for operators adopting
OTT across multiple devices.
By delivering quality television
services operators are expanding
their market potential and thereby
significantly increasing revenue and
meeting the ever increasing demands
of their customer base. PRO

Antonin Král is CEO of nangu.TV,
which has a successful interactive
media platform for traditional and
new internet service providers.

This might sound like the stuff of
legend, but with a little Dutch wizardry
your dreams can come true. New from
Axon is the world’s fastest multiviewer –
MXVWRQH¿HOGGHOD\±FDOOHG6\Q9LHZ
:LWK*EVDQG+'FDSDELOLWLHV6\Q9LHZ
is for today’s and tomorrow’s broadcast
production challenge. This low latency
and ultra compact modular multiviewer
lends itself to the broadest range of
mission critical applications from OB
and studio production video walls to
multi-­screen high resolution and master
control systems.
6\Q9LHZIURP$[RQ±ZKHQ
performance and reliability matter.

For decades Sennheiser has been a reliable
and innovative partner in broadcast and
theatre. Therefore, we understand that
world-class sound engineers have the
highest of demands and expectations.
With this firmly in mind, we took all of
our extensive experience and rolled it into
our first digital multi-channel wireless
system. This is it and it’s in a class all by
itself: DIGITAL 9000 provides uncompressed
digital audio transmission, free from
intermodulation, and delivers stunning
sound and dynamics with a cable-like purity.

Additionally, DIGITAL 9000 offers control
functions that make system setup simple
and fail-safe. The highly intuitive user
interface provides a complete overview of
system performance offering peace of mind
in challenging live situations. A pinnacle
of innovation, DIGITAL 9000 is the best-inclass digital wireless system available and
represents a future-proof investment. We’re
lifting the curtain. You’ll get to know it.
DIGITAL 9000 – The Wireless Masterpiece.
www.sennheiser.ae

PROxxx

On location
at Dubai Creek
Tim Kennedy is Assistant Professor at
the College of Architecture, Art and
Design, American University of Sharjah.
He is also a part-time filmmaker and is
presently working on a documentary
aimed at capturing the stories of
seafarers who travel the Gulf along with
fellow academician Zlatan Filipovic.
The documentary is a sequel to
Kennedy’s first feature The Floating Life
of Dubai Creek, which was screened
recently at Documentary Voices, a nonprofit initiative aimed at encouraging the
making of documentaries in the Arab world.
While the first documentary captures

50 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

life around the creek, which was the
centre from which all of Dubai gradually
grew, the second film dwells on those
whose livelihood depends on these waters
and the trade that goes on there.
“We are using a Nikon D800 with
HDSLR set-up to shoot this film although
we used a prosumer Sony AVCHD for
our first film The Floating Life of Dubai
Creek,” explains Kennedy’s colleague
Zlatan Filipovic, who is assisting with
the post production for the film.
“Its small size made it very inconspicuous
during filming. For the sequel, along
with the Nikon, we are using a Canon

Photos, courtesy Zlatan Filipovic

Armed with a small
camcorder, filmmaker
and academician Tim
Kennedy goes every
week to Dubai Creek
to capture the sights
and sounds there. In
an exclusive interview
with BroadcastPro ME,
Kennedy and fellow
colleague Zlatan
Filipovic discuss the
making of The Floating
Life of Dubai Creek and
its sequel

PRODOCUMENTARY
“I was interested in capturing this moment in
time, the depth of the cultural layering that remains
unobscured by western conventions, for posterity”
Director Tim Kennedy

Tim Kennedy’s The Floating Life of Dubai Creek was
recently screened at DUCTAC as part of the
Documentary Voices initiative.

EOS 6D that serves as the secondary
camera. Alongside this, we are using an
H4N as the audio recorder. For postproduction, we will use the Final Cut
Pro X editing software,” he explains.
Filipovic, who is Assistant Professor
at the College of Architecture, Art and
Design, American University of Sharjah,
initially assisted Kennedy with the camera
and the selection of other technical
production equipment. Later, however,
he became an integral part of the entire
process, engaging in the entire workflow
all the way from editing the footage to
creating DVD and Blu-ray masters.
“Selection of the gear and production
strategy was crucial as it needed to be
seamless and allow for quick hopping
from boat to boat,” explains Filipovic.
As with any documentary, this one
also required the use of inconspicuous

equipment so as to ensure that the
subjects were candid on camera.
Of course, such requirements also
brought their own challenges as the
subjects had to be shot in “small and at
times not so easy-to-access places” and
often in “low light conditions”, which
called for extra care at the editing table.
“We initially worked on Apple
Color and later, migrated to DaVinci
Resolve,” explains Filipovic.
“The footage was transcoded in Apple
Pro Res to allow for better grading control.
Essentially, we shot in two formats for the
first film. While our main footage was shot
in AVCHD format @25Mbps, we had some
DSLR footage that was shot on the Canon
5D MKII. We used Final Cut Pro 7 and Final
Cut Studio 3 for post-production,” he adds.
The Floating Life of Dubai Creek
won Best Film award at the third Ares

February 2013 | www.broadcastprome.com |

51

PRODOCUMENTARY

PROxxx

“Selection of the gear and production strategy was crucial as it
needed to be seamless and allow for quick hopping from boat to boat”
Zlatan Filipovic, Assistant Professor, College of Architecture, Art and Design, American University of Sharjah

Film and Media Festival that was held
in Siracusa, Italy, in November 2011.
It was also screened at the New York
City International Film Festival in July.
The film duo was inspired to make the
sequel when they saw the reception it
received at international festivals.
The film captures an unglamorous life
that is little known outside its immediate
surroundings. There are no structured
dialogues but a smattering of Arabic, Farsi,
Hindi and even broken English. Kennedy
believes the dialogues don’t have to be
subtitled to be understood as the story is
clear from the images and the editing.
“I may not have any commentary in the
film, but I am making a comment by the
selection of shots I’ve chosen to show. A lot
of documentaries put images together and
the voice-over tells you how to understand
it. Here, I am asking the viewers to
make the connection themselves.”
The language barrier, however, was
evident at the time of shooting. Learning
from experience, Kennedy engaged
Saeid Khezri, a recent graduate of the
College of Architecture, Art and Design,
AUS, to serve as the Arabic and Farsi
translator and interpreter for the sequel.
“In this present shoot, my team is in

the process of interviewing nakhodas
(seafarers) who tell of their travels crisscrossing the Gulf, and how their work has
changed over the years. We are focusing
on the heritage of the seafarers, the
history of their trade and the construction
of their dhows,” Kennedy explains.
When the filmmaker first came to
Dubai in 2005, he did what most tourists
did — visit the malls, go for a Desert
Safari, and see some of the emirate’s
new landmarks. However, it was the
Dubai creek that inspired him.
“I was attracted to the old city that
straddles the Dubai creek. I made
photographic panoramas to capture
the rich diversity of the community and
to document the urban ecology. I felt
an urgency to represent this authentic
aspect of the city’s heritage in the face of
booming commercial development. The
panoramas ultimately led to a familiarity
with the urban fabric, and I moved into
filmmaking,” Kennedy elaborates.
The academician’s love for filmmaking
goes back to his student years. As an
undergraduate student at Bard College in
upstate New York, he was introduced to
the work of independent filmmakers such
as Stan Brakhage and Michael Snow.

52 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

“They were developing their own oneman projects, and that was a revelation
and an inspiration for me. I then moved
to New York City to pursue filmmaking
interests, and then to San Francisco
where I earned a Master of Fine Arts
degree in Film at the San Francisco Art
Institute in 1981,” explains Kennedy.
Although Kennedy teaches film
at the University, he returns to the
Creek to capture more footage.
“I am interested in capturing this
moment in time; the depth of the cultural
layering that remains unobscured by
western conventions for posterity. I had
always heard of Gulf hospitality, but after
experiencing it first hand, it amazed
me. At first, I was a bit apprehensive to
step off the regular touristy paths and
approach the sailors in the boats. I was
afraid that if I got on their boat they’d tell
me to get lost. I am from New York, you
see! But to my surprise, they welcomed
me. We shared stories over cups of tea.
“It has been a long steady journey of
weekly visits to the labyrinthine paths
of old Deira and Bur Dubai. For me, the
dhows, the sailors and the traders are
the unsung heroes of the Gulf waters. It’s
been a pleasure working with them.” PRO

PROFILM

Carving a
Tunisian identity
Karim Alexander Pitstra was born in Dordrecht, The Netherlands, in 1979, to a Tunisian
father and a Dutch mother. He made his first film at 15, but worked in music production
before setting up his own production company to make commercials and corporate films. In
an exclusive interview with Shamika Andrade, Pitstra talks about this first feature Die Welt,
which was screened at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival

What inspired you to make this film?
I was raised in Holland by my mother
and only got to know Tunisia when I
was 25 years old. In 2005, I met my
Tunisian father for the first time, after
seeing him leave when I was about four
years old. This film is a culmination of
my observations and experiences in
Tunisia following my encounter and
consequent annual visit to my father.
In Die Welt, I project Abdallah, a fictional
protagonist into my existing Tunisian
family, making the film a hybrid between
documentary and fiction. Of course, many

elements are fictionalised such as the names
of relatives and facts have been altered.
I wanted the core of the film to be an
authentic, visceral experience of Tunisian
daily life. The film shows how young
men, after the revolution in Tunisia,
still dream of a life in Europe. The film
also tells the story of my father.

Karim Alexander Pitstra.

54 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

What were the challenges you faced?
I think the biggest challenge was getting
budget for the film and eventually, I
received this from many different sources.
I started out with my own savings, which

PROFILM
“To obtain a feel of floating motion, without
being too shaky, we used an EasyRig, from a
low angle, which I think worked very well. It
resulted in a motion that was more fluid than
handheld, but less slick than the Steadicam”
I had built up after working for several
years as a freelance filmmaker. I then
got in touch with some private investors.
Friends and family chipped in. I even
started a crowd funding campaign and
got in touch with some local art funding
entities that gave us small subsidies.
Later on, after completing the
production of the film, I applied
for a post-production subsidy at
the Dutch Film Fund and the Doha
Film Institute (DFI) in Qatar.
Since I’m half-Tunisian, I was eligible
to apply at DFI fund. The grant helped
us bring the film to its final stage,
including professional colour grading
and other necessary finishing. One part
of the deal was that we hold our world
premiere at Doha Tribeca Film Festival.
All in all, it’s been a great experience.
Another challenge was working with
people with different experience levels.
I brought a small Dutch crew to Tunisia
and we were new to the game. We had
produced a number of low-budget
films, but this project was a bit more
ambitious and we were basically on
unknown terrain. We had to find a modus
operandi to work together with the
Tunisian crew and a bunch of my Tunisian
family members. It was sometimes
chaotic but in the end, it worked out
and we managed to shoot the film.
A big challenge was also my own
exhaustion. I was already running in
sixth gear for a couple of months when
we started shooting in July 2011. Two
weeks into the shoot, I was no longer able
to inspire my crew. I was just hanging in
there, focusing on what needed to get
shot. At that time, I was really dependent
on people around me, without being
able to give them back any energy. A
lot of things were organised at the last
minute. Shooting in Summer drained us
some more. When the shoot ended late
July 2011, I realised that I had never
been so exhausted in my entire life.
What equipment did you use?
During the first phase of the shoot, our

cinematographer Thijs Gloger shot on
a Sony F3 attached to a KiPro-Mini. We
had a set of PL-mount Zeiss CP.2s. The
camera was rigged on a Vocas rig.
For the second phase of the film,
we employed a Canon 5D Mark II,
also with an EF-mounted set of
Zeiss CP.2 Compact Primes.
To obtain a feel of floating motion,
without being too shaky, we used an
EasyRig, from a low angle, which I think
worked very well. It resulted in a motion
that was more fluid than handheld,
but less slick than the Steadicam.
We used a Viewfactor and Cmotion
remote Follow Focus unit during the free,
dynamic handheld sequences. As for
monitoring, it was done through a Zacuto
EVF and a JVC 17” HD field monitor.
What format did you use for this shoot?
We were mostly recording straight
to ProRes422 HQ in 1080p/25fps.
When using the Canon 5D Mark II,
we shot to the internal h264 codec and
converted that in post to ProRes.
What tools did you use in post?
Editing was done in Final Cut Pro
7. Additional image retouches and
compositing was done in Nuke and
AfterEffects. As for final compositing,
titles and converting to DPX, it was done
in Autodesk Smoke, at the post facility
Loods, Lux and Lumen in Amsterdam.
Colour grading was performed by Jef
Grosfeld at Loods, Lux and Lumen
using a Nucoda Filmmaster system
in a Barco DCP projection room.
Tell us about some tech highlights.
We didn’t do any specific high profile
technical things, although I like the
EasyRig film style combined with the
jump-cut editing. The low perspective
resembles that of a five-year-old child.
It was intentional as that was about
the age I saw my father for the last
time. When back in Tunisia, I often felt
like a little child, because everything
was so new and strange to me.

56 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

Did you have a big team?
The core team consisted of myself, two
producers, a unit manager, two assistant
directors, a cinematographer/operator, a
1st AC, a gaffer, a key grip, an electrician,
some drivers and runners. I think we
had about fifteen people walking around.
Most of the crew was hired through
Sindbad Productions in Tunis, who also
provided us with other facilities, such
as lighting gear and logistic services.
Tell us about your journey as a filmmaker.
I directed my first film during a school
project at 15. It was fun but also
frustrating, having to edit using
videotapes. Later on, I spent time making
electronic music, only to return to video
when I was about 21 years. I found that
it was so much fun to create little films
that I decided to become a filmmaker.
After having been rejected by the Danish
Film Academy (they only accept six
aspiring directors a year), I found some
people in my hometown of Groningen,
who I started making films with. I also
did a lot of commissioned films.
From where do you draw inspiration?
Many things inspire me! Right from
watching films to making films with other
people. I draw inspiration from life and
my own experiences. I like to investigate
my own identity in a creative dimension.
Finally, I find it inspiring to create
something from my mind, something
that didn’t exist before becomes a
reality. It’s always a good feeling.
What are you working on now?
Yes, I’m presently working on a
documentary about my half-sister in
Tunisia and my cousin in Sweden. They
have had similar experiences and I’m
trying to mirror their stories with my
own experiences. It’s kind of a personal
film but I hope it will reach out to many
people who can identify with the subject.
What are your plans for the future?
I think I have done my share of
personal and family stories so I shall
probably move on to other projects
with inspiring themes and subjects.
What would you look for when
you buy equipment?
Good quality, but light, compact
and affordable. PRO

CABSAT 2013

HALL 7

S TA N D

E7-32

NEXT-GEN WORKFLOWS
DEMAND SCALE-OUT STORAGE

CREATE—DELIVER—ARCHIVE
IT’S ON ISILON
Your media workflow requires storage built from the ground up to
support the dynamic lifecycle of broadcast content. Ensure your
infrastructure remains future-proof with a modular tiered storage
platform capable of scaling to 20 petabytes of capacity and 100
gigabytes per second throughput without disrupting your workflow.

To learn more visit www.emc.com/isilon/CABSAT2013

PROINTERCOM

One of the challenges for
the modern broadcaster
is to achieve operational
flexibility, to allow
technical and creative
teams to co-operate in
new ways. This might be
direct working between
multiple sites, or linking
parts of a facility that
were not previously
connected, as we saw
recently at Oman TV

Interconnecting
intercoms
An essential part of interworking is
the ability to communicate. Broadcast
intercom has developed to be carefully
tuned to the needs of the industry,
providing instant communication between
areas, ensuring that operational decisions
and requests are heard and understood
by all who need to act on them.
With interworking comes the need
to interconnect intercoms. Even when
these are from the same vendor, there
are challenges, particularly when
communicating over a distance. But
what happens when two parts of the
facility to be connected have intercoms
from different vendors, perhaps because
one is using legacy equipment or it has
particular operational requirements.
Just such a situation has recently
arisen in the redevelopment of Oman
TV, where Trilogy supplied an intercom
system to the modernised radio building,

but another vendor supplied the system
for the adjacent television centre.
Trilogy developed a simple solution
to the challenge, built around a widely
recognised open telephony standard, SIP
or Session Initiation Protocol. It allows
users of a Trilogy Gemini intercom to call
stations on another SIP-enabled device
in any location to which there is a data
path. In Oman, the calls are across the
road, but the same technology allows
the intercom to call across the world.
SIP is the standard adopted by telcos
to place calls using voice over IP, which
is increasingly the way that telephony is
headed. It is an open standard, supported
by handset and switch manufacturers
serving the telecoms business. Trilogy
implemented SIP in its defence
communications products some years ago,
to allow connection with public telephony
networks and direct to SIP handsets.

58 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

It has now been adapted for use in
broadcast intercoms. The SIP signalling
remains firmly within the open standard,
although it has required some adaptation
within the intercom system.
When a normal telephone call is
made, one party dials the number of
another, the call is routed, the called
party answers by picking up the phone,
and the call is established with duplex
communications â&#x20AC;&#x201C; both parties are able
to talk and listen simultaneously.
That is not the way that broadcasters
need an intercom to work. Their
requirement is for an operator to push
a key on a panel and talk to a remote
device instantly, without the need
for the operator at the called station

Nucleus

The centre of your professional audio environment

X-­Logic I/O Range

Mynx

X-­Logic Alpha Range

Solid State Logic’s Nucleus re-­defines the professional project studio with a perfect blend of advanced DAW control, transparent
SuperAnalogue™ monitoring, high class analogue mic pres, pro quality USB audio interface and bundled SSL Duende Native plug-­ins.
From Mynx -­ a cool desktop mini X-­Rack that allows you to load your choice from the X-­Rack module range into a simple two module
slot desktop box, to SSL I/O range which are perfect partners for Pro Tools®, Logic, Cubase/Nuendo, Ableton, Sonar and all major
Digital Audio Workstations on both Mac and Windows operating systems, you get the best from the world’s leading manufacturer of
analogue and digital audio consoles. At MediaCast we are equipped to provide you the optimum solutions for your creative media
technology requirements.

What happens when content and audience connect is an everyday magic. More than 350
digital TV operators in over 80 countries rely on us to sustain that magic by protecting
VJGKTEQPVGPVCPFTGXGPWG%QPCZVGEJPQNQI[KURTQXGPÂ&#x;GZKDNGCPFUGEWTG
At Conax we work hard to innovate so that consumers can experience
everyday magic on any device, at anytime, anywhere. So let the magic begin.

sustaining magic

Visit Conax @ CABSAT, Stand # C3-40

PROINTERCOM
doing anything: there is no concept of
“picking up” an intercom message.
So the Trilogy solution treats a push
to talk on a panel as an individual SIP
call with simplex communication. At the
called panel the device has to recognise
the SIP signalling and auto-answer to hear
the message. Obviously, in the pressure
environment of broadcast operations
this SIP signalling and auto-answering
has to be instantaneous. In practice,
it takes just a couple of milliseconds,
so it is transparent to the user.
Originating an SIP call is performed
in exactly the same way as any other
intercom call. A typical Gemini panel is
configured for 32 addresses, with their
user names dynamically displayed on
the keys (16 keys plus a shift to get to
the second bank of destinations). In the
standard software multiple keys can be
for SIP calls to other systems or to remote
locations. More destinations can be added
if required through additional matrices.
So in Oman, if a user in one part of the
radio facility needs to talk to another part
of the radio facility, he simply presses the
appropriate button. If the user needs to
talk to an area in the television centre,

“SIP is the standard adopted by telcos to
place calls using voice over IP, which is increasingly
the way that telephony is headed. It is an open
standard, supported by handset and switch
manufacturers serving the telecoms business”
again he simply presses a button, in exactly
the same way. If a user in the television
building calls a user in the radio centre
then the Trilogy panel auto-answers the
SIP signalling and relays the message.
A two-way conversation is, in effect,
a series of SIP initiations which are
auto-answered by the remote panel.
Other intercom vendors are also
implementing SIP for the same reason.
Obviously both systems need to
support SIP if they are going to talk
to each other. The Trilogy system is
implemented fully in software and needs
no additional hardware. It is, therefore,
simple to add SIP capabilities after the
system has been installed, simply by
unlocking them with a license key.
This also means that the system is
completely flexible: any panel on the
network can have access to any of the

Lights, camera, action
Argosy is a leading global supplier of HD
broadcast cables and infrastructure products.

SIP addresses. And, as noted, the SIP
calls need not be to another intercom
system but could be to the remote devices
including commercially available SIP
VoIP phones and distant facilities.
The most important point is that,
because SIP is a universal standard,
interconnection should be standardised
and needs no specific development
on the part of any vendor to make the
connectivity work. The result is a major
productivity and economic bonus for
broadcasters, who can choose intercoms
on the basis of core functionality, and
continue to use legacy equipment,
confident that they can set up interworking
wherever the systems are installed. PRO

Broadcasting used to rely solely on proprietary technologies. That isn’t surprising considering
the massive amounts of real-time information that broadcasters deal with on a daily basis. But
now, broadcasting is merging, in a sense, with IT technologies

Early on in the days of IT, computer
people were amazed when they
could process and display video —
even if the earliest demonstrations
showed video the size of a postage
stamp. Today, the offspring of those
earliest “personal” computers
have given rise to nonlinear editing
systems with the power to produce a
Hollywood blockbuster on a laptop.
Today, the penetration of IT into
the broadcast infrastructure may
seem commonplace. It’s happening
on a global scale with the increase
of “open IT” (software that isn’t
closed to use or manipulation by a
third-party) within broadcast.
But what is IT and what does it
hold for broadcasters in 2013?
While the IT world is vast, broadcasters
have concentrated on specific features:

networking, processing, and storage—
with the latest trend being cloud storage
for non-real-time/near-line solutions.
Obviously, this changes the paradigm of
what many of us have thought of as the
heart of broadcasting’s infrastructure
just a few years ago. Networking opens
up new options for broadcasters, but
equipment manufacturers need to have a
good understanding of the IT operational
constraints within the broadcast
workflow in order to understand how an
IT-based infrastructure can be utilised
from an application level capability
standpoint. Throughout its history, the
broadcasting industry has gone through
a variety of technology transitions:
black and white to colour, mono to
stereo, stereo to multi-channel, and
most important, analogue to digital and
standard definition to high definition.

62 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

Today, the transition is from hardwarecentric to software-centric solutions.
For example, while many broadcast
equipment manufacturers have been
leveraging IT for years with individual
products, the industry is now moving
towards integration of the powerful
application layer which is responsible for
communications protocols and processto-process communications across a
network. As infrastructures become
more computerised, manufacturers
will be able to expose users to an
integrated system across operational,
technical, and business levels.
File-based media has become the
killer app for many consumer-centric
companies, with storage and archive
solutions allowing tens of thousands
of users to share millions of clips or
full programs worldwide. Just consider

PROIT
for a moment, the IT power behind
names such as YouTube, Netflix,
Facebook, and other media-centric
and social networking channels.
Broadcasters can reap tremendous
capabilities by leveraging IT and offthe-shelf hardware, but only when it is
properly optimised for the I/O, rendering,
and infrastructure requirements of
broadcasters with dedicated software
applications. This mix of IT and broadcast
technologies is needed because there are
special considerations for an industry
that requires real-time, high data rate
files to be where they need, at exactly
the right time and with no errors. Plus,
the added requirements to handle
access and management of the media,
also facilitates the need for a strong
hardware and software infrastructure.
One area where IT has already had
a major impact on broadcasting is in
servers. Initially called “disk recorders,”
the first devices made it possible to
record and play at the same time and
to allow multiple users to access the
same content seconds after recording.
Continued development further
leveraged IT, with disk recorders
that were open, scalable, and
flexible, providing a foundation
for a dynamic environment and
today’s video and media servers.
Today, leveraging IT has lowered the
cost of high-speed server networking
by using common technologies such
as Gigabit Ethernet. This not only
reduced prices compared to earlier
servers and disk recorders, which
used more expensive Fibre Channel
technology, but opened up servers for
use with nonlinear editing systems.
iSCSI (Internet SCSI) networking
protocol running over the top of Gigabit
Ethernet, allows servers equipped with
those technologies to exchange and
deliver the high bandwidth requirements
associated with real-time video.
Most recently, media servers have
come to market with high-resolution and
high performance, with the additional
ability to create and deliver lowresolution proxy content for browsing
and media management. In the proper
circumstances, these low-resolution
proxies can be used for the complete
workflow. This can give broadcasters
a great amount of flexibility as lowresolution proxies can easily be used on

laptops with nonlinear editing software
and uploaded and downloaded almost
anywhere an internet connection is
available. The high-resolution images
are only needed for final output,
based on the edit decision list created
with the low-resolution content.
The industry has also seen the
integration of different operating
systems for mission-critical 24/7 playout
applications, namely Linux and Unixlike QNX, to avoid the issues associated
with Windows operating systems.
Another example is one where
broadcasters never thought that IT could
deliver: cameras.
CMOS imagers—which are more
like integrated circuits—are becoming
more common compared to traditional
CCD sensors. While CMOS is used
in everything from cellphones to
DSLR cameras, its major obstacle
for mass adoption in broadcast is
what’s called “rolling shutter.”
The rolling shutter of the regular
CMOS imager produces images similar
to scanning from a Plumbicon tube,
because of line-by-line scanning.
Shorter exposure times will increase
the visibility of the skewing effect.
Understanding the unique needs of
broadcasters, “global shutter” behaviour
(similar to IT CCDs) is just being
introduced in CMOS-based cameras
designed specifically for broadcast. The
global shutter will expose each frame
for 1/50 or 1/60 of a second and show
some blurring effects on fast moving
objects. Shorter exposure times can be
used to get sharper pictures, however
this can create some shuttering effects.
But unlike IT CCDs, this new generation
of CMOS imagers does not produce any
highlight smear under any conditions
and can also include integrating multiple
A/D converters, timing, and read-out
circuits on the CMOS chip itself.
Leveraging IT in cameras also means
that various models of the same camera
family can be physically the same
right out of the box, with software
controlling the feature-set of individual
camera models. By simply upgrading
the software, production format
flexibility and features can increased.
The key is the ability to apply the
modern IT infrastructure into the
broadcast environment. It can’t be a
straight integration—we must leverage

Flexibility
A Studio Broadcast appliance but
switch to Windows and run any
auxiliary software.

Value
4 Pro Camera Studio Broadcaster,
5HD DDRs.

Wecom Global

Tel: +971 4 3517505 / info@wecom-me.com
www.wecom-me.com

February 2013 | www.broadcastprome.com |

63

PROIT
the best of IT to meet the industry’s
real-time and non-real-time needs.
I see one of the biggest struggles
for broadcasters as the delivery
of content to multiple distribution
channels, each with its own format.
This is a real business challenge as the
income generated from these channels
is nominal. A change in technology,
but not operational workflows—will
allow broadcasters to continue doing
what they do, but do it better.
Traditionally, broadcasters have
used a linear production model: images
are acquired, manipulated, and then
distributed. The struggle is how to
repurpose linear content to multiple
platforms. To do this, the industry must
change to a nonlinear production model
that accommodates nonlinear distribution
and broadcast playout in a create once,
publish everywhere (COPE) scenario.
Consider the following live production
scenario, with a camera system
built on an IT-based platform:
A camera operator at a stadium could
push a button that sends metadata from
their camera that initiates a set of actions.

While the camera’s output still
makes its way through the traditional
production process via the switcher
for traditional programme output, the
metadata has automatically switched
the online feed to its camera — perhaps
with automated graphics — skipping
the traditional linear production process
of content manipulation via a manually
operated switcher. In this aspect, the
workflow is nonlinear and automated,
compared to the on-air workflow.
How and what images are pushed to the
web are based on a set of predetermined
rules and automated workflows. But
this power can be easily used to create
an online highlight or home team feed
for the web, giving content owners a
possible secondary revenue source from
this nonlinear production content.
Technology—both broadcast and
IT—have finally advanced to the point
that production, post-production, and
distribution can merge into a single
collaborative platform, providing
multiple format outputs and increasing
efficiency throughout the entire
production chain. Nonlinear production

is the culmination of the integration
of the best of broadcast with the best
of open IT, and will be the future of
broadcasting for 2013 and beyond. PRO

Karl Schubert is CTO of for Grass Valley
and is responsible for identifying future
technologies and developing a vision and
technology roadmap for the future of the
company’s product lines.

RADICA TO SHOWCASE DAVICOM
Radica will be displaying the latest release of
the Davicom Telemetry System with many new
features and benefits on its stand at CABSAT this
year. Davicom’s mission is to supply affordable,
intelligent and innovative monitoring solutions
for a remote broadcast or telecom facility. These
solutions allow one to increase transmitter uptime
while reducing travel and maintenance costs.
The Davicom Telemetry unit is located at
each site connecting to practically any piece of
equipment by parallel, SNMP or ModBus. It can
take intelligent decisions locally and then report
back to your Network Operations Centre, thus
cutting down network traffic.
Installing these units at sites can significantly
reduce the number of site visits required and
so can save significant money in a short period
of time.
Two major projects in the Middle East are
planned for 2013 with Davicom units being

installed at both AM and FM facilities. Network
Operation Centres (NOCs) at the broadcasters’
HQs will have real-time visualisation of what is
happening at each site and site equipment can be
controlled either manually or automatically.
Powerful new features in Version 5.48 includes
extended support for SNMP and new DTMF Quick
Commands. The V5.48 release of MacComm
includes the ability to apply coefficients to SNMP
GETs so results may be meaningfully displayed
graphically, and support for direct integration of
equipment URLs to centralise the control you can
have over your site.
Radica Director, Alan Brown said: “Version 5.48
incorporates many of the features customers
have been asking for. Continuous development
by Davicom means that the product is at the
forefront of site monitoring and we are delighted
that the system has been chosen by two separate
broadcasters in the Middle East.”

BELIEVE BEYOND HD WITH SONY
This year at CABSAT, Sony Professional and its
channel partners will showcase an extensive line up
of cinematography, ENG, live production products and
archive systems.
“Sony has always been a leader in technical
innovation in a bid to improve image and sound
quality and develop premium products that are
versatile and accessible to professionals and
consumers,” said Awad Mousa, Head of Product
Marketing – Content Creation at Sony Professional
Solutions MEA.
“We have leveraged the use of digital platforms to
create the 4K production experience and at CABSAT,
we will showcase how we’ve broadened and extended
our line-up of 4K-capable equipment to simplify the
production process for broadcast professionals.”
4K content holds more than four times the amount
of information compared to full HD, resulting in

sharper and more detailed images with brightness
and colour. Sony will demonstrate the 4K workflow at
its stand right from capturing an image using a large
format sensor camera such as the F65, F5, and F55
right up to viewing it in its native resolution on the new
PVM-X300 4K professional monitor.

Pixel Power will announce the international
launch of its Gallium integrated scheduling, asset
management and automation system at CABSAT.
Gallium is the company’s integrated, sophisticated
and scalable scheduling, asset management
and automation system. It provides automated
control of Pixel Power’s transmission devices for
graphics or complete channel playout, including
ChannelMaster. Gallium goes beyond what
many expect from channel-in-a-box automation,
providing enterprise-standard, scalable automated
transmission. With the ability to manage multiformat content delivery, Gallium maximises sharing
across multiple channels, reducing workload and
resource requirements while enhancing delivery
and consistency with a single operator. Besides
Gallium, Pixel Power will also showcase its
ChannelMaster scalable channel playout systems;
its BrandMaster family of Branding Switchers
and Clarity, which is used to create, manage and
playout premium broadcast graphics including
social media.

MEDIACAST PRESENTS
BLACKMAGIC CINEMA CAMERA
UAE-based distributor MediaCast will showcase
the much-awaited Blackmagic Cinema Camera at
CABSAT. The launch of the camera will also mark
the launch of MediaCast’s new production division.
The distributor has previously been known
in the market primarily for representing various
brands in /V post-production with all its
complementing functions such as broadcast,
music creation, production and its revamped
service & support division.
The Blackmagic camera, however, will be the
first camera that the distributor will sell in the
region. To help visitors obtain a real time shooting
experience, MediaCast will feature a ‘video studio
set’ in the stand.
“The richness and colour-depth of the images
captured in RAW format by the camera has taken
the world by storm, and we will create an ambience
that will enable people to experience it first hand
and take the captured images through a workflow with a colour-grading suite,” stated Peyman
Dadpanah, Business Director of MediaCast.
“We also have a NewTek TV studio section with
the new TriCaster 8000, Chyron and other products
in audio and system solutions in live-demo.
ediaCast is moving closer to its goal of becoming a
premium one-stop destination from media creation
through to processing and delivery. We also have a
bigger stand size at CABSAT this year.”

Harris Broadcast, recently acquired by The Gores
Group, will showcase a complete integrated workflow
— from ingest all the way through to playout — at
CABSAT 2013, being held at the Dubai International
Convention and Exhibition Centre (12-14 March).
Incorporating some of the company’s newer and
more compact broadcast solutions, including the
Harris Versio Integrated Playout solution, Selenio
media convergence platform and HView SX Pro
multiviewer, the Harris demonstration at CABSAT 2013
will underscore the capabilities of the company’s
offering, even in smaller, space-saving devices.
Versio, which will have its inaugural launch
at CABSAT 2013, delivers the industry’s most
complete all-in-one solution to help customers
rapidly launch, expand and sustain their on-air
channels and services — while strengthening
revenue growth and protection.
The Versio combines baseband video, channel
branding and automated workflow capabilities in an
easy-to-deploy, software-based, single-rack-unit (RU)

solution. it significantly reduces the cost and time
to launch broadcast, cable and other TV channels
and services while offering simple integration with
production, traffic and billing, scheduling, asset
management, content playout and master control
functions — taking full advantage of existing facility
workflows for maximum return on investment.
“We are excited to showcase some of our latest
offerings, including for the first showing in the Middle
East of our new Versio integrated playout solution for
channel-in-a-box workflows,” said Said Bacho, vice
president, sales and service, Middle East and South
Asia, Harris Broadcast.
“We understand the core costs and investment
needed to deliver premium quality channels reliably
and efficiently. This knowledge and expertise has
allowed us to evolve the channel-in-a-box concept
beyond the current market offerings and bring a more
relevant solution to our customers.”
Visitors will also see a range of signal processing
applications including loudness management, as

well as the latest in routing systems and monitoring
solutions, master control switching, and encoding
and networking.
The demonstration also includes servers, editing,
graphics and channel branding solutions as well as
over-the-air DVB-T2 transmission — right through to
the set-top box. With broadcast systems increasingly
moving to file-based infrastructures, a central
part of the demonstration will be dedicated to the
unique Harris Selenio media convergence platform,
which combines traditional baseband video and
audio processing, compression and IP networking
features — all in a single, space-saving 3RU frame.
The CABSAT 2013 demonstration will include
a presentation of Harris sales and scheduling,
traffic and billing, playout automation and asset
management software solutions.
This integrated, file-based workflow dramatically
reduces the costs associated with content
acquisition, production, distribution and media
management. The links between broadcast to
enterprise management systems means that
producers can monetize their content at every
stage. It also brings the opportunity to understand
the costs in every part of the process so that
businesses have a clear financial basis on which to
plan investment and develop new services.

VSN is proud to present the ultimate media concept,
Tapeless 2.0, a new generation of software tools for broadcast
that will make the difference.
VSN’s Spider Platform is a cutting-edge framework featuring the
latest cloud-friendly solutions for Media & Broadcast.

February 2013 | www.broadcastprome.com |

69

PROUD TO HAVE BEEN A PART OF LONDON 2012
PIONEER OF HD PRODUCTIONS
OUR FLEET IS READY FOR YOUR EVENT: booking@liveHD.ae

464,5;:6-7(::065
^^^30=,/+HL

PROCABSAT

maximised due to substantial reduction of flare, veiling
glare and internal reflections.
The lens offers tight control of the geometric
distortion at wide-angle settings, while spectral
transmittance characteristic is to HDTV colorimetric
standards. With relative light distribution optimised
for more open aperture settings, uniform brightness,
excellent picture sharpness and high contrast, operators
can be sure of producing vividly clear HD pictures.Â
The Canon KJ20x8.2B KRSDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s optical design
includes the precision optical element and multilayer
coatings, as well as Canonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Internal Focus â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a floating
optical system that vastly improves control of chromatic
aberrations. The lens also incorporates Shuttle Shot, an
advanced digital drive system that allows operators to
precisely zoom between pre-programmed focal lengths,
instantly and on-demand.Â
A range of user-friendly design features have
Focal lengths range from an extra-wide angle 8.2mm
been included, such as a compact drive unit
(60.7 degrees angular field of view horizontal in 16:9
aspect ratio) to 164mm, combining with a f/1.9 maximum mounted to the lens at an ergonomically designed
12.5 degree angle, to improve comfort and balance
reflective aperture to provide excellent operational
during operation. The lens is also designed with
capabilities â&#x20AC;&#x201D; all in a package weighing just 1.25 kg.Â
the environment in mind, eliminating materials and
With tighter control of MTF across the entire image
substances that are environmentally harmful.Â The
plane, a minimisation of chromatic aberrations and
lensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; high-grade design also makes it suitable for
the maximisation of image contrast, the lens claims to
shooting in a wide range of situations.
deliver superior levels of picture sharpness.Â Contrast is

ZOOM IN WITH
NEW CANON HD LENS
Canonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new multipurpose 2/3â&#x20AC;? KJ20x8.2B KRSD lens
is designed for camera operators who require high
quality footage for corporate videos, education films,
documentaries and so on.
The HD zoom lens offers a compact design with
advanced performance and operability. Its 20x zoom
lens offers a 1.0 second maximum speed over its
entire zoom range, alongside a Minimum Object
Distance of 0.9M (10mm with Macro).

Innov at i n g t he Fut ure of Globa l Communi c at i on s

VLink

To learn more about how VLink can
improve the way you communicate, visit

www.rtsintercoms.com/vlink
9OLQNB[B'6BFDEVDWLQGG

30

February 2013 | www.broadcastprome.com |

71

PROCABSAT

MIRANDA PRODUCTION AND INTEGRATED PLAYOUT AT CABSAT

NET CADDIE
The Net Caddie is a new compact
camera interface using the “Stagebox
by BBC Research & Development”
technology. Net Caddie allows HD-SDI
to be injected directly into a standard
IP network environment.
Net Caddie transforms the entire
camera’s bi-directional linear control,
audio and video signals into packetbased IP protocols, all on a single
Cat6 cable to simplify workflows
and rigging. Operators can now plug
cameras direct into a venue’s Gigabit
infrastructure for the distribution of
live camera feeds.
By using “Stagebox by BBC Research
& Development” technology with
100MB/s AVC-I compression, the HDSDI is converted and carried over the
network in full broadcast quality video.
This allows a remote camera to be used
directly in the production environment.
Net Caddie provides video, audio
and ancillary information over a time
synchronous network. Most importantly
the system is completely synchronised,
providing an IP equivalent to a
genlocked SDI system. Timing and
control is based on IEEE 1588 and the
proposed SMPTE timing standard.
The system also allows remote
connection of video sources,
editing workstations and monitoring
equipment. Importantly, the IP stream
feeds directly into a workstation
and can be viewed with many open
standard software decoders.

For production professionals, Miranda will present the
new NVISION 8140 hybrid router, a 144 x 288 matrix in
an 8RU frame that’s designed for the space constraints of
mobile production and smaller studios. NV8140 is part of
the NVISION 8500 Hybrid router series that now includes
five frame sizes with simplified cable management and
redundant power supplies, crosspoints and control cards
The CopperHead 3200 fiber-optic camera transceiver,
from Miranda’s Telecast Fiber Systems, will also be
demonstrated. The camcorder-mounted CopperHead
contains a fiber link to a truck or control room to
transport video, audio, data, intercom and camera-control
communications using a single, lightweight fiber. Miranda
will also demonstrate its end-to-end support for fiber
connectivity with a range of conversion and distribution
solutions including the LUMO high density fiber converter.
The new iTX Master Control combines the scalability and
flexibility of Miranda’s iTX integrated playout platform with
the hands-on operations for proactive channel control

found in the Imagestore 750 to deliver playout automation
with live-event functionality. Playout facility managers can
experience the benefits of Miranda’s iControl, its highly
advanced signal and facility monitoring system.
iControl delivers greater than “5 nines” availability using
content- and schedule-aware monitoring that enables
instant review of a facility’s status to detect and initiate
necessary repairs.
Two new graphics options for iTX will also be
demonstrated: the Vertigo XG processor, which provides
real-time CG, DVE and graphics capability directly into
the iTX output server and integral Adobe After Effects
rendering with iTX Render Service, which provides
unlimited graphics and text effects using the industry’s
most popular authoring tool. Miranda’s Kaleido-X
multiviewers will provide the visuals for the system on
show. Kaleido-X can be expanded to include well over
1000 video inputs and up to 128 multi-image outputs
with unparalleled image quality.

SGL ON THE WEB SGL will show its web-based interface for its flagship SGL FlashNet archive system for the first
time in the Middle East. Users of FlashNet now have a number of additional features that further simplify workflow
procedures and enhance usability of the system. The new user interfact will enable broadcasters and content owners to
easily archive and restore material for smaller projects that fall outside the sphere of the controlling MAM or automation
systems. With the new GUI’s tools, the user can archive directly to any configured FlashNet disk or tape group. Once in
the archive, metadata can be extracted or added manually, and searching for and restore of clips is quick and easy. The
interface can be used on any platform – Windows, PC, Mac or Linux. SGL will also demonstrate its new client-based web
tool — FlashBrowse 3. The open system architecture provides broadcasters, post production facilities, and news/sport
organisations with reliable, scalable solutions with substantial cost and workflow benefits. It provides at-archive browse
creation, automatically generating browse resolution copies of clips as the high resolution versions are archived. The
Flashbrowse 3 interface, which is an extension of the new FlashNet GUI, allows operators to instigate restores or partial
file restores directly from their browser window.

TEDIAL COUNTS ITS ASSETS
Tedial continues to maximise the benefits of file-based
platforms with its sophisticated suite of software
products including: Media Asset Management (MAM),
Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) Business
Process Management (BPM) and its content exchange
solution for enhanced media production efficiency.
The company’s portfolio is vendor- and hardwareindependent, releasing customers from proprietary
constraints and thereby significantly increasing
productivity and ROI.
Tedial will be showcasing its enhanced technology
for its MAM component Tarsys, which now features a
powerful web-based interface.
Casual or expert operators can easily locate and
initiate workflows in order to process content, for
instance editing, or transcoding. Furthermore, Tarsys
supports multiple data models and is designed to work
in many languages and character sets making it suitable

72 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

for multilingual use.Tedial’s Ficus has evolved to include
Business Process Management capabilities and now
has an interactive workflow builder that enables new
workflows to be created and existing workflows to be
modified using a unified web interface.

EdiƟng and eīects connected like never before.

Autodesk® Smoke® software is a revolutionary new solution for editing and effects designed to meet the needs of editors who
need to do more than just edit. Smoke provides editors with the compositing, color grading, and motion graphics tools
they need in a fast and iterative creative environment for storytelling.
With Smoke 2013, move quickly from your timeline to a full node-­based compositing workflow. Gain total control over lighting
and easily experiment and make changes to complex effects.

NETIA
RADIO-ASSIST 8.1
At CABSAT 2013, NETIA will showcase
the latest version of its Radio-Assist
range of digital audio automation
software. Radio-Assist 8.1 will offer
the same robust array of tools for
streamlined end-to-end multimedia
production, broadcast, and publication
workflows, along with two significant
new features: an integrated musicscheduling application and video
editing capability.
Users can access both new
features from a single user interface.
NETIA’s Radio-Assist family of digital audio software
programmes covers each part of the production and
broadcast workflow, allowing users to record, edit,
or prepare a playlist. In addition to new browsing
and publishing tools for full multimedia functionality,
the software features tools for acquisition, soundfile editing, commercial and music production,
newsroom systems, scheduling, multicasting, and
administration. Radio-Assist 8.1 allows users to

leverage built-in music-scheduling functionality.
With music management tools integrated into
Radio-Assist 8.1’s FederAll playlist preparation
module, users are able to automate playlist
generation according to preset criteria, business
policies, and a wide range of intelligent options
for sequencing music. The video editing tool now
available within the Radio-Assist 8.1 interface

complements the software’s Snippet and Snippet+
audio editing tools. Offering a convenient editing
solution, this enhancement addresses the growing
demand for radio broadcasters to provide video via
their online portals. This simple and easy-to-use
editing tool is available through the same GUI as the
Snippet tool, providing a familiar utility that allows
staff to produce video clips with very little training.

VISLINK AT CABSAT 2013 At CABSAT 2013, Vislink will feature the latest broadcast products from its brands of Advent, Gigawave, Link, MRC and PMR. Vislink
will focus on the latest developments of the company’s Advent Mantis MSAT Portable Data Terminal, designed to address the emerging Ka-Band satellite newsgathering
requirements of broadcasters around the world. The Mantis MSAT is a 12.5Kg go-anywhere satellite terminal that can be set-up and start transmitting data and video in
as little as five minutes. It supports X-, Ku- and now Ka-Band configurations, which can be swapped in the field in under a minute. Also on show will be the Vislink wireless
camera transmitters, including the ClipOn-4 transmitter, designed for use with HD and SD cameras for electronic newsgathering, outside broadcasts and studio applications.
With one-frame latency (33ms) and the latest H.264 or MPEG-2 encoding, the ClipOn-4 offers high picture quality and multiple capabilities.

that solve our customers’ most complex challenges
in today’s digital media and multi-screen operations,”
said Andy Giles, head of sales, Middle East and
Africa, at Snell. ICE is Snell’s integrated, IT-based
playout solution that delivers robust, scalable,
and affordable operation for real-world broadcast
playout environments. Snell claims it is the only
channel-in-a-box solution that scales from one to
100+ channels, with the same user interface. New
features in ICE further extend Snell’s channel-ina-box cost benefits. With a focus on incorporating
more of the channel into the box, Snell’s ICE now
includes powerful, integrated 3D and 2D graphics,
CG functionality with timeline-editing control, and the
ability to populate fields from Morpheus automation
or external data sources to schedule events.
Understanding the need for clear and simple
graphical representation of multiple channels of
playout, Snell has introduced new user interfaces
that make Morpheus playout automation even
easier to use and allow a single operator to monitor
the highest number of channels. Morpheus v3.0
boasts full support for virtual machines, which
facilitates lower space and power requirements while

74 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

improving system resilience. Kahuna 360 supports
any format in and any format out, on any input or
output including 1080p (single link), as standard
for a smooth and cost-effective migration from HD
to 1080p. The switcher’s Make M/E technology
delivers huge flexibility for users sharing resources
across multiple consoles. Now, Snell has made the
functionality of the full-size Kahuna 360 available in
a new lower-cost Kahuna 360 Compact — including
seven keyers per M/E, resource sharing with Make
M/E technology, and FormatFusion3, which supports
any format in and any format out.
The Kahuna range also includes Kahuna Flare,
the first mid-level switcher to offer standard singlelink 1080p support alongside SD and HD formats,
making it ideal for over-the-air broadcasts, IP,
Internet delivery platforms, and large progressivescreen presentations. Specialising in TV Everywhere,
Broadcast Infrastructure, and Live Production
applications, Snell provides the necessary tools to
transition seamlessly and cost-effectively to HDTV,
stereoscopic 3D, and 3Gbps operations, while
enabling broadcasters to monetise and deliver their
media assets across multiple distribution platforms.

PROGUEST

Vision 247 recently
opened an office in
Dubai. Tanya Vidmar,
MD of Vision 247 UAE
shares some details
about the company’s
expansion plans

A new Vision
Are you called Vision 247 here?
We are called Vision247 UAE and
we are presently located in Dubai
Media City.
Why have you opened an office
in Dubai?
The Middle East represents
an exciting opportunity. Its
leading telecom operators have
already concluded that the
best strategy for consumers
of premium TV services is
to merge the adaptability of
OTT delivery with the security
of managed IPTV. The new
MEA office will support fresh
partnerships with the region’s
telecoms providers as Vision247
develops its XtremeIPTV
and Perception platforms,
introducing new solutions for
telco IPTV networks, including
high performance VoD; network
PVR & Time Shift systems; HLS
streaming; and new set top box
and mobile client applications.
What opportunities do you see
here?

As a vendor of IPTV and
OTT content delivery and
management platforms, we’re in
a prime position to support the
development of free-to-view and
Pay TV services, delivered over
the internet, to ‘digital’ homes in
the region.
Have you worked with anyone in
the Middle East so far?
We are already working with
major regional broadcasters
including Al Arabiya, MBC, GEM
TV and Iqraa.
What’s your plan for this region?
We will now expand our
activities with support for local
telecoms operators, offering
combined subscription and
pay-per-view services, IPTV
and OTT, with provision of both
channels and apps.
What are the challenges you
foresee in this region?
In the Middle East, intense
competition to IPTV is faced
from other internet TV platforms

76 | www.broadcastprome.com | February 2013

and the historical prevalence
of free-to-air (FTA) satellite
channels. Even though these
do not offer the same level
of interactivity and quality
of service as IPTV can,
establishing a compelling call
to action amongst consumers
requires time. There is need
for strict Quality of Service
requirements within an
operator’s network as well
as the availability of high
bandwidth service to the end
user in order to be able to
deliver video. This, however,
has been largely resolved with
the availability of technologies
such as adaptive streaming and

Content Delivery Networks
that opens up the possibility
for new players such as mobile
operators and ISPs to develop
a sustainable video business
The regulatory landscape
in the Middle East is diverse,
having its own regulations
and with each country
being at a different stage of
telecoms liberalisation. One
unifying factor is that the
regulatory landscape is
developing, which means
changes are likely to continue
as governments across the
region refine their policies
to suit the needs of their
populations and economies.

GY-HM600 Series | HD ENG camcorders

WHEREVER YOU ARE
GET YOUR MESSAGE HOME

Exceptional low light performance
with the new GY-HM650, with fast file
transfer to get your message home.
JVC is ushering in a new era of mobile newsgathering with a line of ProHD hand-held
camcorders that shoot and deliver news footage faster and better than ever. The GY-HM650
camcorder is equipped with three full-HD sensors and a fixed wide angle 23x autofocus
zoom lens, along with exceptional light sensitivity of F12 at 2000 lux.
Additionally, the GY-HM650 features built-in FTP and USB network connectivity for
WiFi, 3G/4G and LAN functionality, allowing footage to be transferred back to the station
without a microwave or satellite connection. Equipped with dual codecs, it records .MOV
and XDCAM EXTM compatible MP4 or MXF files with rich, descriptive metadata on one
memory card, while simultaneously creating smaller, web-friendly files on a second card.

For further information on the new camcorders,
please visit our website at www.jvcpro.co.uk.

Power to tell stories
A new HD system for a new century, designed to serve
the changing needs of cinematographic production work.
Seamlessly compatible with a wide range of accessories
and production tools and with a choice of PL or EF lens
mounts: this is the Canon Cinema EOS System.
canon-europe.com/cinemaeos